


Stonesetting

by carolnegate



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Backstory, Bucking Fanon Trends, F/F, Forced Fusion, Fusion, Gem Corruption, Gen, Humans, Long, Non-Canon as of "Cry For Help", Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plague, Politics, Pre-Canon, Slightly Darker than Canon, Space Exploration, Tags After This Point May Contain Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-04 10:59:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4134948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolnegate/pseuds/carolnegate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one is ever truly "normal", but Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst were gems who existed far outside the usual boundaries. Luckily, Rose Quartz was a lover of all gems - no matter where they came from, no matter what they did, no matter where they wanted to go, everyone was welcome in her arms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One: Garnet, Time and Work

_"Everything they care about is what I am."_

* * *

At the outset, the Corundum cluster appeared to be a complete success. It was uncanny, how much some of these gems resembled their template. Viability was only slightly lower than the average cluster, and every gem produced here had at least a minor affinity for the second sight. These new additions to the gem populous had the potential to take the empire past its old boundaries and towards previously unthinkable heights.

However, every gem grown here could sense that something dark was on the horizon. At least, all of the stronger gems could sense it, and even the weaker ones could feel a quiet sense of dread settling over their individual units. This cluster planet was doomed to fail, and if luck was not in their favor, then all 100,000-something gems here would die. All of that potential could be snuffed out by a single organic anomaly.

Ruby didn't know when the disaster was coming, even if some of her friends did. All of their visions were hard to control, but hers were especially so. They were sharp, vivid sensations that cut into her consciousness without warning and left without telling her anything useful. In the final days before the collapse of her unit, they distracted her mercilessly. First, intense heat and light were everywhere. Now, cold and darkness, and tears were falling from her eyes without any sign of stopping.

Now, she was alone, wandering through the desolate landscape of this planet, far away from any cluster unit. The wind beat at her body, forcing her back, but she forced herself to keep plodding onwards. It was her only hope. She had to keep going.

Now, a multitude of hands were reaching for her, pulling at her, trying to drag her down with them. She couldn't stay with these gems. They were too far gone. She could still keep going. She had to get out of here.

Ruby shook her head, clearing the morbid sights from her three eyes. She told herself over and over again that nothing that horrifying could ever come true. Her visions couldn't hurt her. They weren't real.

This planet, this heat and motion and matter, that was real. The energy that thrummed in every living being, that was real, too. Her fellow gems were real. The broken and malfunctioning communication equipment was real. The creeping, brown mold growing nearby her cluster unit was real.

When the feeling of intense, sickly exhaustion struck Ruby's body, she realized how real her visions could be, too.

* * *

Sapphire was tired, so tired. She'd been tired for the past year and a half, wandering the long distances between cluster units and looking for survivors. Her sight had told her that she would most likely find another dozen or so gems who had escaped the initial outbreaks. Luck had not been in her favor. She'd only found one.

Ruby clenched Sapphire's hand a little tighter and spoke. "So, we're here, I guess."

They had finally reached the volcano. Sapphire could feel the slow, inevitable progression of this massive beast of plate tectonics. It would grow, stretching farther and farther upwards until the gradually shifting plates of this planet cut the mountain off from its lifeblood. Then, the giant would slowly flicker out and begin its eternal sleep.

Sapphire was aware of how distant this particular future was. In a much closer section of the future, the gem Homeworld would likely send a handful of forces to investigate why this planet's communications had gone completely dead. When they arrived, they would discover that the communication network was only one of the many things that had died here.

"Are you doing alright?"

Ruby's voice pulled her back to the worrying present. All things considered, the two of them had held out for an impressively long time. In fact, Sapphire had predicted many times that the two of them would not make it this far. Yet, here they were, and their only hope was something that, in all likelihood, was going to kill them.

"We're not going to live," Sapphire spoke softly. Very softly. The infection had reached her throat about a month ago. She hadn't been able to sing a note since.

"We're going to live," Ruby replied almost immediately. Her voice was even rougher that Sapphire's, but it was determined. "We're gonna make it happen. This is the volcano, right? And it's hot enough to burn away the infection, right?"

Sapphire, once again, consulted her second sight. Looking towards the future was a happy alternative to facing the grim reality of the present. "It is hot enough to put an end to all life. Both the infection-" Her voice hitched. She gave a cough, clearing the mold from her throat. "And the two of us."

* * *

Ruby had already known that the lava would kill them. Sapphire had told her about it countless times. But, Ruby also understood that this was their only way to survive. Do nothing, and the infection would slowly consume them both. She couldn't let that happen, not when they were both so close.

She knew the two of them still stood a chance at survival. She'd seen visions where it happened: both of them, arms wrapped around each other, begging to stay together as the rescue party dragged them back to the Homeworld. Ruby couldn't see things from an impossible future, could she?

Of course, she'd seen far more visions of their death than their survival. Sometimes, Ruby was the first to fall. In the others, it was Sapphire. Ruby wasn't sure which future she preferred. Either she could watch her only friend slowly perish in her arms, or her friend would be forced to endure that same fate.

Their story could have had an entirely different ending. They could have been in each other's arms for completely different reasons. As different as the two of them were, both in terms of ability and personality, they both rang with the same chords. They were built off the same template, and the two of them had learned to cooperate in the past year. They knew each other better than they knew themselves.

Ruby knew that Sapphire was, without a doubt, giving up. She couldn't let that happen, not now, not after everything.

"Sapphire, you have to-"

A vision hit her without warning.

Heat and light were everywhere. It was raw and sweltering, but she could definitely handle it. Against all odds, she'd won. Intense elation lit up her body and sizzled across her skin. She'd done it. She'd saved herself, and in a strange way, that meant that she'd saved them both.

Ruby remembered this vision. It hadn't been that clear in the past, but now that she was closer to the future it represented, maybe…

Maybe she could be more than herself. Maybe the two of them could bind themselves so tightly together that even lava couldn't hope to tear them apart. Maybe they could finally be safe in each other's arms.

Ruby was laughing, laughing so hard that her chest hurt. She gave a loud, racking cough, which only made the pain worse, but she managed to settle into a smile. There would have plenty of time to laugh later, after they'd burned this infection out of their gems.

"Sapphire," she said, her voice still hoarse. "I need you to trust me."

* * *

Sapphire trusted Ruby. She'd known the gem for a year now. Ruby had a simple progression, and after all of their experiences together, she was easy enough for Sapphire to predict. She knew that Ruby would never hurt her. The gem never intended to harm anyone unless she was upset, and right now, Ruby was not upset. If anything, she was more joyful than Sapphire had ever seen her.

However, Sapphire was very tired. The infection would claim her by the end of the day, she was certain. She shouldn't have been able to render the future with that level of precision, but she didn't need a second sight to know when her end was coming.

Through her haze of exhaustion, she could feel Ruby shaking her shoulders and shouting. "Sapphire, listen to me. I just had a vision. I know how to get us out of this. We're going to live!"

Sapphire tried to keep herself in the present, but it was exhausting. She wanted so badly to retreat into her gem, even though she knew what the exact outcome to that would be. Once an infected gem lost their physical form, that was the end of them. There would be nothing left but for the infection to devour her crystal, grow its stalks, and spread its spores.

Sapphire could not survive like this. She was going to die, the nutrients of her gem fueling the growth of this insidious organism. She would crumble and vanish, and then this world would return to the default state of its progression: empty. It would be completely devoid of sentient life, nothing but the mold that ate everything in its path.

Even the equipment in each cluster unit would rust and wither away. In a few hundred years, there would be no sign of the miraculous gems who had once been given life there. The gem empire would need to look somewhere else for their colonization efforts.

Sapphire could feel something wet on her face. Wet? Rain wasn't likely to come on this planet for another few days. What could possibly-

It was Ruby. If Sapphire ended here and now, then Ruby was going to watch her die.

Through the kind of willpower that only accompanied sheer panic, the present snapped back into her awareness. Ruby was still shaking her, face shining with tears. If Sapphire continued to do nothing, then those tears would likely continue to fall until Ruby herself expired.

Gently, Sapphire reached up and placed her hand on Ruby's face. The red gem froze at the contact, shocked that her friend had suddenly returned.

"I trust you," Sapphire spoke. "What do we need to do?"

* * *

In this late stage, even Ruby's immense strength was failing. Still, she pulled together one last bit of energy and lifted Sapphire off the ground by her waist. A few twirls were all she needed. A few steps, just enough to make this work. She needed it to work. She didn't know what she'd do if it didn't.

Ruby could feel the life draining out of Sapphire, evaporating far faster than life had ever drained out of Ruby. Sapphire's weakness would soon become her own. It was a terrifying thought. But, Ruby hardened her resolve and pressed on. She forced herself to match the beat of Sapphire's dwindling life force.

All she wanted was for Sapphire to be safe.

* * *

Sapphire felt the shift coming. It was welcome, yet overwhelming. She could sense Ruby's constant heat and energy, her instability and desperation, crashing down upon her and filling her up from the inside. It was almost too much for Sapphire's hurt, sick body, too much for both of them. She sensed Ruby's panic upon discovering the deep, dark hole that Sapphire knew herself to be.

They were not the same person. The differences between the two of them rubbed abrasively against each other, sending a discordant ripple through their melding forms. Sapphire, somehow, managed to scrounge together one last little bit of willpower. She forced the rough patches flat. She resolved their chords into something beautiful, something alive and wonderful and stable.

All she wanted was for Ruby to be safe.

* * *

Garnet didn't smile. This was not an occasion for smiling. Both halves of her were very worried, and they wanted nothing more than to keep the other half safe. Therefore, Garnet wanted nothing more than to climb the side of the volcano as fast as possible. Which, taking into account her considerable strength and speed, was quite fast, even with the infection slowing her down.

One quick application of her vision told her that it would be best to stay inside the volcano for at least three years. It would be about that long before the Homeworld decided this planet's extended silence was cause enough for alarm. Then, it would be safe for her to emerge from the lava, meet the investigation team, and give them the bad news.

Three years of solitude was more than any part of her had ever known. Her clusters had once been full of bright, young gems, personalities with a million things to say about the future and barely enough time to say them. Three years of being alone with their visions would have been enough to drive any of them to madness.

Garnet, however, was not alone. She was together, and that meant she could survive anything.

She could even survive the Homeworld gems who, upon rescuing her from this planet, would want nothing more than to tear her apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to "Stonesetting", my required backstory fic for the Steven Universe fandom. I wanted to write a slightly larger backlog before posting this, but then I saw the approaching Steven Bomb on the horizon. I wanted to post at least two chapters before an upcoming episode inevitably contradicts a major portion of the story I want to tell.
> 
> Stonesetting has multiple parts, and each part focuses on one member of the Crystal Gems. The first part, obviously, is Garnet. Those of you who read my fanfiction know that I tend to make it a point to defy a fandom's fanon. For me, there is no greater joy than in taking a cliched story and proving that it doesn't need to be that way. Ruby and Sapphire don't need to have a love at first sight - they can be fire-forged friends instead. They don't need to first meet each other during the war - rather, they can come from the same home planet. In fact, why does Rose need to get involved with their "first fusion" story at all? Ruby and Sapphire are so close that it stands to reason they'd figure out fusion all on their own.
> 
> The second chapter will go up sometime before the start of the second Steven Bomb. From then on, the chapters will come a lot more slowly. Maybe I'll have an update schedule or something? I'll figure it out when I'm not trying to prepare the next chapter at supersonic speeds.


	2. Old and New

_"Now that was a pretty close one."_

* * *

After five minutes of impatient foot-tapping, Zircon finally said something. It was not something that Rose wanted to hear, unfortunately.

"I'm going to go load the ship."

Rose shook her head. "You can't leave yet," she spoke. "We both need to be there for her. She's a very new gem. How is she going to be able to navigate the terminal without us?"

Zircon heaved one of her trademark overdramatic sighs. It was impossible to see through her reflective goggles, but her exaggerated motions made it clear that she was rolling her eyes. "Fine, you can stay here and help her find her way. You can go all warm-teacher-mode with her, and I'll go to the dock and make sure no one breaks my equipment during the loading. Good?"

Rose shook her head once more. "Equipment can be replaced. A good experience can't."

Zircon's slender shoulders sagged. "Look, it's not that big of a deal. There are more important things out there than giving a new gem a 'good experience'."

Zircon turned around, looking out through the giant window behind them. On the other side was a huge, sweeping view of the Homeworld Grand Port's various launch and landing pads. Before their eyes, countless ships of varying shape, size, and color moved about. Every one of them had a direction and purpose, whether it was in the process of taking off, landing, or boarding. One could stare at this sight for hours without seeing half of what was going on.

"Do you know how many of these ships have been on a class-seven assignment?" Zircon asked.

Rose didn't have an exact answer. But, considering the massive length of her experience, she thought she could make a fairly accurate guess. "Half of them."

"Nope," Zircon replied. "Only about a fifth, and that's over the entire ship lifetime. There aren't that many class-seven assignments available, but we get sent on a lot of them. The assignment officers trust us. They think we can handle it."

Zircon turned back to Rose, her expression hardening slightly. "Do you know the mortality rate for class-seven assignments, though?"

For this, Rose had no previous point of reference. "I don't know."

"Three-point-seven percent," Zircon rattled off. "About one out of every twenty-seven gems dies. Having someone like you around reduces the risk by a lot, but still."

Zircon crossed her arms, suddenly looking much smaller than before. "If I'm going to help Sapphire, I'm not going to do it by being her friend. It's going to involve making sure she stays out of that three-point-seven."

Rose supposed that made sense. However, she also understood how indirect Zircon tended to be with her words. The gem rarely said what she meant and rarely meant what she felt. Rose had the feeling that Zircon's problem didn't have anything to do with death statistics.

"You don't have to be nervous," Rose reassured. "I'm sure you'll get along with Sapphire famously."

Zircon reacted just a touch too quickly. "Me? Nervous? Never." She chuckled, her laughter pitching a little higher than it should have. "And of course I'll get along with Sapphire. We've had dozens of other gems assigned to us. I'm used to meeting new faces. I can handle it."

Rose narrowed her eyes in concern, but she pressed on. "You weren't this nervous for Sherry."

Zircon's posture, which was normally fairly loose, suddenly stiffened at this remark. "No, I wasn't nervous for her. I probably should have been, though. Would've made it less of a slap in the face."

Sorrow filled Rose's heart. Surely Zircon understood that what had happened between her and Sherry Topaz wasn't her fault. If anything, Rose was to blame. She'd been the one to put in a special request to the assignment officials after seeing Sherry's file. This Topaz was supposedly a brilliant mind, the best from her cluster. She was a little like Zircon in that way. Unfortunately, it appeared that great minds only rarely thought alike.

Rose laid a hand on Zircon's shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll only have to be with Sherry for one more assignment, and then you won't have to work with her ever again."

Zircon gave a tired sigh. "I know."

Having to juggle the worries of training a new partner, enduring Sherry, going on a dangerous class of assignment, piloting what would be a very tricky warp-jump…it all added up. Rose knew how much stress Zircon was being asked to endure. Though Rose knew how to handle these kinds of situations, Zircon still thought the meaning of "downtime" was "fuss endlessly over the ship's circuitry".

As important as it was to give their new partner a warm welcome, Rose knew that her friend's mental health had a slightly higher priority. Right now, Zircon needed to do something mindless for an hour or so. "You can go oversee the equipment loading," Rose announced, slightly apologetic. "I'm sorry for keeping you."

"Thanks," Zircon huffed in relief. She really did need some alone time to relax. Maybe they could work out something once they made the jump to their planet.

Zircon turned to leave, but before she could take off in the direction of the loading docks, she froze mid-step. "Uh, Rose?"

Rose looked her in the eyes, worried. "What is it?"

Zircon flashed a blindingly-white grin. "Don't stress about your boarding duties, okay? I've got them covered. You can wait here for Sapphire as long as you need to."

Rose returned a smile of her own. "Thank you."

"And if the newbie's still late when take-off rolls around?" Zircon pointed towards the pale gray gem embedded at the bob of her throat. "Ever since my last overhaul, the ship's electronics have been a bit wonky. Might even be enough to delay the take-off, especially on a mission as risky as this one."

Rose almost burst into laughter, thinking of what kinds of mischief Zircon could get up to in that amount of time. Then again, now that she thought about it, the prospect should induce more horror than laughs. "Be careful," she added.

As Zircon made to leave, she shot Rose one last glance over her shoulder. "Always."

* * *

In this day and age, Rose no longer found herself enjoying her visits to the Homeworld. The modern Homeworld gems were a bit too dry and sterile for her taste. This recent period of stability had calmed them, tempered them, made them more likely to seek safety at the expense of joy. True, this was arguably the most peaceful period in gem history, but Rose found herself enjoying very little of it. Most the Homeworld was now an endless expanse of residential blocks, network centers, and other products of repetition and symmetry. Routine and efficiency, those were the true leaders of this planet now, not Aquamarine and Emerald. Everyone kept their heads down and their eyes on the paths ahead of them.

The Homeworld Grand Port was a little different. This place was more like the old Homeworlds, closer to the planets she'd seen in the empire's golden ages. So many young, starry-eyed explorers rushed toward the boarding docks, barely able to contain their excitement at the chance to see a world outside of their own. So many older, more experienced gems headed in the opposite direction, their minds filled with the lessons they'd learned while they were away. New things were created. Old things were revived. It was a place of true growth and progress.

As Rose stood and waited for her new partner to arrive, she took the opportunity to watch some of the gems around her. There were so many interesting stories to be told at these terminals. She hoped that a story would emerge about a young gem named Sapphire finding a welcome place in the arms of the caring Rose Quartz, but it appeared that she'd need to wait a little longer for that particular story to unfold. Sapphire was running quite a bit late.

A developing story caught her eye. The best stories started with the characters, and Rose's instincts told her that this character was truly something special. Everything below this gem's shoulders was hidden by a dark cloak. A poofy, black mass of hair covered most of her face and shielded her eyes from view. The gems around her seemed to be unnerved by her very presence. They were too nervous to talk to her, and she didn't seem keen on starting up any such conversations herself. She just stood in line, silently waiting for the chance to make her way to the boarding docks.

Some people liked to claim that more powerful gems tended to manifest larger physical forms. If that was true, than this gem could fight even the strongest warriors on even ground. Most gems with that kind of strength were prideful and brutish, thinking that their power justified their every action. They used their abilities to take rather than to give, which had its share of tragic results. However, if this particular gem's appearance was anything to go by, she wanted nothing more than to hide her light away from the world. In Rose's opinion, that was an even greater tragedy than hubris.

Specifically, this gem was in line for one of the detector gates. These dull, gray arches had been installed a few centuries ago for security purposes, but Rose frankly thought they were more hassle than they were worth. They lined the terminal, a dreadfully boring sight compared to colorful gems passing through them. Guards stood nearby, each armed with a sword, but they were all clearly bored with the whole affair. In all reality, these gates now did the bulk of their jobs. Most of the current guards looked more interested in examining their clipboards than watching for signs of any potential criminals.

The line in front of the tall, cloaked gem slowly dwindled. Eventually, it was her turn to pass through. She paused in front of the arch, her face hardening into a blank, stony mask. Then, she quickly stepped through.

The arch briefly lit up with a bright yellow flash and let out a high-pitched beep. Her whole body went tense with the noise. A few seconds passed, and though a few gems looked in her direction with curiosity, nothing seemed to happen. Slowly, she loosened up and began to make her way towards the docks.

A bright orange guard abruptly stepped in front of her. "Name?"

The taller gem came to a sudden halt. She did not say a word in response. From what little Rose could see of her face, her expression was completely unreadable.

This guard's gem sat squarely in the center of her forehead, and there was a sword hanging ominously at her hip. She would not be easy to outsmart or overpower. That being said, the cloaked gem was still a head and a half taller than the guard. Depending on her principle weapon, it might take two or three guards to bring her down. In most cases, a gem of her prowess would have been the guard's superior. The guard seemed very aware of this fact, for she kept he gaze locked onto the clipboard in her hands, unwilling to make eye contact.

"Name?" the guard asked again.

The tall gem let a few more moments of silence hang between them before finally giving an answer. "Sapphire."

Rose's eyes widened. This was Sapphire? Sure, it was high time that Sapphire had arrived, but she was nothing like small, struggling gem the report had implied her to be. Perhaps the report had just been a little…misleading.

The guard flipped through a few sheets on her clipboard before making a small noise of satisfaction. "Right, sorry. Looks like the machine gave a false negative. That happens sometimes. Just let me get a scan of your gem, and then you can be on your way."

The guard pulled a small, round object from her belt. Rose immediately recognized it as a gem scanner. She possessed one herself, though she'd left it back on the ship. It was very useful for looking at gem structure, something that was usually vital to the missions she had with Zircon. She supposed it would also work well in a security scenario, at least when it came to checking someone's identity.

Sapphire once again let the silence settle between them. This time, there was the weight of a challenge behind it. The guard could only look at her for a few seconds before breaking eye contact again. Rose could feel the pressure build up from across the room.

"It's standard procedure," the guard continued, every word sounding like an apology. "For some reason, the system doesn't think you're assigned to travel today. If we figure out what types of gems tend to give false negatives, we can fix the system to prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future. Wouldn't you-?"

A dark hand suddenly extended from inside the cloak. It was remarkably slender and dainty for someone with so tall in stature or broad in shoulders. Still, it did sport her gem, a chip of burgundy with a triangular cut.

Sapphire held her gem over the small scanner for a moment, then quickly withdrew her arm back inside the cloak. The scanner hummed for a moment, flashed with a few lights, and finally let out a happy chirp. The guard, seemingly satisfied, waved her on and glanced down at the scanner.

Sapphire gave a small, stiff nod and passed by the guard. It took Rose a moment to realize that Sapphire was walking directly towards her. Rose flashed a hesitant smile, her head running through the various things she would need to do to prep Sapphire for their mission together.

At that moment, the guard finally seemed to interpret the full meaning of her scanner's readings. Her face twisted into a frown. "Wait…" Regaining her senses at the last possible moment, she wildly reached out to grab a hold of Sapphire's cloak.

The taller gem reacted quickly. She whipped around, cloak flaring out with the movement, and deflected the guard's reaching hand with her right forearm. The guard let out a bewildered squeak of surprise.

"No," Sapphire said. She clenched her left fist, looking ready to punch the guard straight in her forehead gem if things went any farther south.

The guard's jaw worked itself for a few moments, but she somehow managed to cobble a few words together. "The scanner says you're very new," she said quickly, as if a single delay would result in serious bodily harm. That could have very well been the case. "Your first assignment, right?"

"It is," Sapphire answered. "And?"

"W-welcome to your first day of service," the guard said, clutching her clipboard a little closer to her chest. "And good luck?"

Sapphire held still for a moment. Then, she unclenched her fist, lowered her forearm, and slowly straightened up into a standing position. "Thank you." She drew both of her arms back inside of her cloak, gave one last nod to the guard, and resumed marching in Rose's exact direction.

Rose wasn't sure what to make of this. She recalled the report on Sapphire she'd read just earlier that day.  _Poor weapon, poor reflexes, not optimal for combat. Decent durability and memory, fantastic speed. Recommended for research or messenger work. If that fails, acceptable for servant work._

Rose had seen some misleading reports here and there. Considering the length of her lifetime and the number of assignments it had entailed, it was inevitable. However, Sapphire's report wasn't misleading so much as it was completely wrong. She wasn't some shy, combat-poor gem who stood a very real chance of being sent to the servant sector. With the right training and enough experience, she wouldn't be out of place as one of Emerald's personal guards.

Something wasn't right. That detector gate had gone off for a reason, after all. Perhaps there was something unusual going-

"Rose Quartz."

The mysterious gem's voice yanked Rose out of her thoughts. Rose stared into what was visible of the stranger's face, looking for any signs of answers. However, she was up against a brick wall of stoicism. She allowed a few seconds of silence to pass, hoping the gem would try to explain her recent behavior, but it soon became clear that this was never going to happen.

Rose's suspicions slowly climbed. She was usually one to give gems the benefit of the doubt, but she also understood the importance of trusting her instincts. "Are you truly Sapphire?" she asked.

The gem before her didn't so much as move. "Yes." A simple answer to a simple question.

Perhaps Rose should pose a less simple question, then. "How was the flight? You came in from Megalsio, correct?"

While the mysterious gem still refused to move, something about her disposition seemed to harden. "I came from Corundum," she said bluntly. "I warped in."

A great deal of tension left Rose's shoulders. Most of that information would have been difficult to find outside of Sapphire's report. Still, there was one more piece of evidence she needed before she could be absolutely sure of this gem's identity. "When did you get back to the Homeworld, then?"

"Cycle 223, Year 482, Day 176. Nine days ago," the gem rattled off as if reciting from a list. After a moment, she added, "Sorry I'm late."

The rest of the tension left Rose. "It's fine. You're not in trouble." Most gems were assigned the first day they arrived on the Homeworld. Sapphire's circumstance had been slightly unusual, hence the long delay. Rose was now confident that the gem standing before her was who she said she was. "Your delay won't negatively effect your training, I promise."

She paused, hoping Sapphire would make a remark. Unfortunately, Rose had forgotten who she was speaking to. Dead silence quickly settled between the two of them. Rose was forced break the tension with another question. "Did the assignment officers tell you what you would be doing with us?"

Sapphire nodded. "Planetary detailing and initial pioneering efforts."

"And do you know what that means?" Rose continued asking.

Sapphire stared. "No."

"Oh." Regardless, Rose gave her a warm smile. "That's perfectly alright. We can go over some of the finer details during the landing." Sometimes, when they got a new partner, they had no clue of what kind of assignment they had been put on. The assignment officials must not have had time to brief Sapphire before she arrived at the port.

Speaking of time, they needed to board the ship as soon as possible. She didn't want Zircon toying with the ship's electronics any more than was absolutely necessary. Rose turned towards the gate to the loading docks, beckoning Sapphire to follow, and the new gem followed without so much as a word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Easter Eggs: Lots of random names for places/things were inspired by gemstone chemistry. Garnet's cluster planet was Corundum, the gemstone type that covers both rubies and sapphires. "Megalsio" comes from Mg3Al2(SiO4)3, the chemical formula for pyrope garnets.
> 
> Get hype for Steven Bomb 2.


	3. Failure to Communicate

_"The two of us ain't gonna follow your rules."_

* * *

"So, how was the experience at your cluster?" Rose asked as they stepped out onto the docking bay. It was a standard question to ask new gems, one she'd posed countless times in the past and would likely pose countless times in the future.

However, as soon the words left Rose's mouth, she realized the severity of her mistake. She'd already heard about Sapphire's cluster planet and the disaster that had occurred there. She inwardly cursed her lack of tact. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything so…painful."

Sapphire didn't seem too troubled at the mention of her cluster, however. She turned her head in Rose's direction, gave a wordless shrug, and left it at that.

Rose still felt the pressure to continue. "I want you to understand one thing – you are safe here. Organic life operates under very specific constraints, and in the sector of the galaxy we'll be exploring, it's very uncommon. You won't see anything of that nature on this assignment, I promise."

A strange noise left Sapphire. It took Rose a moment to realize that the gem had scoffed.

"We're traveling to a silicon-based planet, if Sherry's calculations are correct," Rose continued. "If we find any organic life there, I'll…" She spent a few moments thinking of an appropriate penance. "On our trip back to Homeworld, I'll regenerate with a dress. How does that sound?"

She expected to at least hear a snicker from Sapphire. However, the new gem only responded with a sterile, "Alright."

At first, Rose was thoroughly baffled at this display of stoicism. Dresses hadn't been in style since before Emerald and Aquamarine had taken their respective thrones. Even a gem as new as Sapphire should understand the joke. With the size of cluster information uploads these days, it was sometimes unnerving how much culture the newer gems had already been exposed to.

After a few more moments of thought, however, Rose quickly became concerned. Sapphire's recent tragedy was probably the reason behind all of this stiff behavior. Sometimes, when life was filled with that much pain, the easiest way to deal with it was to stop feeling anything at all. Rose knew from experience that this was not a healthy way of handling those kinds of emotions, but for now, she wouldn't pressure Sapphire any further. The new gem had suffered enough during the past few years.

Rose wouldn't mind discussing one of the few positive aspects of Sapphire's origin, however. "I heard there were multiple survivors," she spoke up. "Did you have the chance to meet any of them?"

Sapphire tensed in mid-step for just the briefest of moments. Rose would have missed it had she blinked. "One friend," the new gem replied. "One very good friend."

"Oh," was Rose's disappointed response. "You met only one of the other survivors?"

Sapphire's mouth pressed into a flat line. "I met them all."

Sapphire was implying one of two things. Either she had not gotten along with a majority of the gems that had survived her cluster's collapse, or there was only one other survivor besides herself. Rose didn't know which scenario was less traumatizing.

"Is this the one?" Sapphire abruptly asked.

Rose looked up and took in the sight of a nearby starship. "Yes, this is the one."

The ship before them was not the largest one docked, but it was very impressive regardless. Proud red accents highlighted the hull's more withdrawn shade of green. It didn't resemble its rounder, gently-curving sisters in the pioneering class, and it would not be a stretch to mistake its streamlined shape for the tip of a particularly large weapon. Though some engineers called it "patchwork", a better-suited term would be "perpetually updated".

Rose knew this vessel well. It was Zircon's pride and joy, the SI-O2. Or, as the two of them liked to call it informally, the Bloodstone. It certainly had its share of quirks, but it handled warp-jumping better than any other craft Rose had flown on. It was also one of the few ships built to accommodate someone of Rose's size, which was good news for someone with Sapphire's height.

Rose glanced at the gem in question, gauging her reaction to this magnificent craft. "What do you think?"

Unfortunately, Rose was met with a decided lack of reaction. No excitement, no wonder, just the usual wall of stoicism. Perhaps it would be a different story once Sapphire met her fellow crew.

The inside of the vessel was a little less impressive than its outside. Still, Rose knew that every component of this ship was state-of-the-art, from the engines to the interfaces to the scratch-resistant paneling on the windows. The Bloodstone was sometimes a little noisy, rattling with Zircon's new additions or updates, but today, it was whisper-quiet. All the better for conversation, she supposed.

Rose did not want to bring up any painful topics. She really didn't. But, it was the only thing that had gotten Sapphire to put more than two sentences together, so she didn't have much of a choice. "What is your friend's name?" she asked.

Sapphire followed Rose around the sharp turn. "Ruby," she replied.

Rose looked over her shoulder, giving Sapphire a warm smile. "Ruby and Sapphire. You two have such beautiful names." She faced forwards once more, and her gaze automatically settled on the doorway to the control bridge. "What is she like?"

Sapphire seemed to need a second to think this over, but when she spoke, her words were well-chosen. "She is strong in all the ways that matter, but weak in all the ways that matter, too. We didn't get along at first, but when we had to, it was easy." She paused, possibly giving her friend a moment of silence. "I didn't want to leave her behind."

Rose frowned, understanding what must have happened. "She was put on a different assignment, wasn't she?"

Sapphire refused to reply. It was all the confirmation Rose needed.

An idea, almost without bidding, came into Rose's head. A feeling of excitement quickly spread throughout her body. "When we have finished this assignment, I could possibly…pull a few strings," she said to Sapphire. "I could have Ruby transferred to our team. Would you like that?"

Rose glanced back at the gem. She expected to see a joyful grin. Instead, she was met with a puzzled frown. Rose's excitement faltered.

"It's certainly legal to arrange matters like this, if that's what worries you," Rose continued. "And while it is unusual to assign two new gems to one pioneering party, it isn't unprecedented, either. Some of the assignment officers might disapprove, yes, but I'm sure they'll reconsider when they see how well the two of you must work together."

If Sapphire wanted to respond, she was cut off when the two of them strode into the main control bridge. The bright orange Homeworld sun glared at them through the windows. Inside the cockpit, however, Zircon's gray form was settled into her usual pilot seat. Her hands flew over her station keyboards, stringing together a complex arrangement of overlapping melodies. Some of the Bloodstone's launch sequences were becoming too complicated for even someone of Rose's experience to decipher, but Zicon's talent was thankfully both the cause and solution of that particular problem.

Rose was jarred from her thoughts by a shrill, though familiar, voice. "Ugh, finally!"

Sherry Topaz, the one who had spoken, swiveled her copilot seat the face them. She had already donned her skintight pilot uniform, and her brown eyes were narrowed in distaste. "We were almost going to postpone the launch. Glad to see you two finally decided to join us."

Rose took a breath to speak, but Sapphire nimbly stepped around her, hijacking the conversation. "I was delayed."

Sherry raised an eyebrow, but her face didn't otherwise budge from its display of disapproval. "And for a good reason, I take it?"

"…Yes." The hesitation was small, but for someone as socially impenetrable as Sapphire, the moment of silence spoke volumes. She must have given her friend a very long, very heartfelt goodbye.

Rose shot a glance at Zircon, but the pilot's attention was elsewhere. She was still busy working her keyboard, though the amusement of hearing someone give Sherry trouble had split her face into a grin.

Sherry, eyes half-lidded, gave a loose shrug. Her dark, frizzy hair jostled with the motion. "Typical. We get another liar on this team." Her eyes shifted to Zircon. "Not that we needed any more of those."

Zircon's hands fell still over her keyboard. Her grin soured into a grimace.

Rose decided that enough was enough. "Sherry, that was uncalled for," she said, voice lowering. "Apologize."

Now it was Sherry's turn to grimace. "Apologize for what? For Zircon refusing to give anyone a straight answer for anything? For Sapphire being late to her very first assignment for unexplained reasons?"

"Everyone makes mistakes," Rose countered. "That doesn't give you a right to be mean-spirited about it."

Sherry let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright, fine." She rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll be good."

At this, Zircon gave a derisive snort and muttered under her breath. "And you called me a liar."

Sherry was on her feet in an instant, eyes narrowing. "You take that back."

Zircon, with a sigh, stood up from her seat as well. "If I took it back, then I might be lying. Apparently, you don't like that."

"Getting defensive, now?" Sherry huffed. "It's just as well."

"Defensive?" Zircon shot back. "Fine. Maybe I like hiding behind a mask every once and a while, but at least I'm not pretending to be perfect."

Sherry's face twisted into a snarl. "And at least I'll be doing something worthwhile with my life once this assignment is over with."

"What, optimizing spaceships?" Zircon's voice was laced with venom. "While you're working on how to make the old ship models slightly less buggy, I'll be out there on the frontier, discovering something new. Designing my own ships from scratch. Working for myself."

"And I'll be working for the Round Brilliant division," Sherry argued. She took an aggressive step towards Zircon. "Do you know how hard gems work to get this kind of opportunity? Do you even know what my chances were of getting this position?"

Zircon made to step towards her, but before she could do so, the swish of a dark cloak cut between them. Sapphire's massive form blocked their hateful glares. She put a hand on each of their shoulders, stopping either of them from advancing any closer.

"It's better than the chances of any of us being assigned to Rose Quartz," Sapphire announced.

Zircon took a step back. "Uh…"

"And if you two keep fighting," Sapphire continued. "It's better than the chances of all four of us getting back to Homeworld alive."

Rose fell completely still. Zircon did likewise, her face going blank with shock. The only noise to be heard from the entire ship was the gentle hum of the warming engines.

After the initial moment of shock, Sherry shook her head. "Our chances of survival are almost certain with Rose Quartz on board." She pushed aggressively close to Sapphire's face, maybe even close enough to see her eyes through all of the hair. "I don't care who you think you are, newbie, but-"

Suddenly, Sherry's voice cut off. Her eyes widened. She reeled backwards, almost falling over, and clumsily planted herself in the copilot seat. After spending a moment frozen in fear, she hastily swiveled her chair towards her keyboard and began tapping out a quiet launch melody.

Rose wasn't sure if she should be relieved, concerned, or curious. On one hand, she was grateful that Sapphire had managed to put a stop to this fight. On the other hand, Rose still didn't understand what had happened. Sherry must have seen something terrifying in Sapphire's face. The new gem hadn't sounded angry at all, though, and as imposing as someone like Sapphire could be, Sherry was not one to let herself be intimidated.

Eventually, Zircon awkwardly cleared her throat. "Right. We're on a class-seven assignment. It'd be a shame for you to get accepted into the Round Brilliant only to die before joining them."

Sherry said nothing in response, preferring to focus on playing the launch sequence.

Zircon carefully set herself back into her pilot seat. "I'll take over the launch from the top of the form. When we get there, can you handle the warp-jump prep? Or are you too shaken up to handle that?"

Sherry made a disgruntled noise. "It should be easy enough," she said stiffly.

A chuckle made its way out of Zircon's throat. Then, she swiveled her chair to face Rose. "You two, your boarding duties are taken care of. You can head back to the quarters."

Rose nodded in understanding. "How long do we have until the jump?" she asked.

"Not too long. Ten minutes, probably. Maybe a bit longer." Zircon leaned back in her seat a little and flashed Rose a wide smile. "You should probably hustle, though."

Rose nodded once more. "Alright, then. Sapphire, if you could follow me?" Rose then turned to leave the bridge, listening for Sapphire's following steps.

Just before they left the bridge entirely, she heard Sapphire speak up one last time. "Nice goggles."

Zircon gave a laugh. "Yeah, they're good for keeping people out of my face. Unless you're a very specific Topaz who can't take a hint, that is."

Sherry grumbled indignantly, but she said nothing more.

* * *

The quarters were all the way in the rear of the ship, but luckily, this vessel wasn't particularly large. It was designed for a crew of four gems at the absolute most. The walk was rather short, and thanks to Sapphire's presence, it was also silent.

Rose's head swirled with questions about her new partner. What had her experience on Corundum really been like? Why had her file been so misleading? How had she frighted Sherry that severely? Sadly, Rose knew she wouldn't be able to pry any answers from Sapphire in the short time before launch. She would just have to wait until they arrived at the target planet.

Sapphire cautiously opened the door to the transport quarters. This revealed a closet-sized room with four small slots set into the far wall. By design, the slots were each large enough to hold a single gemstone, but the room itself could barely house a physical form of Rose's size. Sapphire gave a soft, thoughtful hum as she stared into the cramped space.

"We won't be staying here for long," Rose informed her. "All four of us will voluntarily retreat to our gems for the bulk of the trip. After the warp-jump, Zircon and Sherry will regenerate and finish piloting us to the planet's surface. Once they land, they will stimulate our regeneration, and then we will all work together to set up the initial base."

Sapphire gave a dissatisfied frown. "Why?"

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Why what?"

"Why do I need to release my physical form?" Sapphire asked.

Rose hesitated, perplexed. Most new gems already knew the answer to this question. "A warp-jump of this distance would scramble your body," she explained. "You can avoid a lot of hassle by voluntarily retreating to your gem beforehand."

Sapphire continued to stare into the small space of the room, her face stuck in its stern frown.

Looking to break the tense silence, Rose gave a reassuring smile. "It's not as bad as you might think. It will give you the chance to redesign your body and attire, at least. That cloak won't do you favors on a job as physical as this one."

Something seemed to settle in Sapphire posture. Then, much to Rose's surprise, she slammed the door shut. "Nope."

Rose could say only two words in response to this. "Excuse me?"

"I can't release my physical form."

Rose was baffled. "But didn't you already release your form for the trip over here? That's now it usually…" Actually, now that she thought about it, very little about Sapphire's life up to this point was "usual". Instead of flying to the Homeworld, as was normal for new gems, she had taken an emergency warp to a quarantine facility.

"Is it a matter of not knowing how?" Rose asked. "If so, I could possibly…damage your physical form, assuming you're willing. That should force you to retreat to your gem, and I can guarantee that it will be less painful than waiting for the warp-jump to damage your form instead."

Sapphire didn't relax or relent upon hearing this. In fact, she only seemed to grow more defiant. "No."

A few puzzle pieces came together in Rose's mind. "Oh. You're afraid."

"I'm not afraid," Sapphire asserted.

"Then what's wrong?" Rose asked, stepping closer. "Help me understand. Is this about what happened at your cluster?"

Sapphire made a grimace. "Not the way you'd think."

Rose noted how Sapphire had lowered her stance. She didn't look afraid, exactly, but she was still very defensive. She was a new gem, and though Rose wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, she also understood that new gems didn't exactly have the best sense of judgement or perspective.

"Listen," Rose spoke quietly. "I know how scary something new like this can be. But, if you'd just trust that-"

"No," Sapphire said again. "I won't…come apart. I won't let it happen."

Rose reached out in concern. "Sapphire, you can't stop this. Whether you release your form now or wait until the warp-jump does it for you, you can't avoid retreating to your gem. I would love to let you continue like this, but-"

"But you don't think there's a choice," Sapphire interrupted.

Rose shook her head. "I'm sorry it has to be this way. Even if you find a way to abandon this assignment, the end of the cycle is coming. You can't stay on this planet for much longer."

Sapphire stood stock-still for a few moments. When she spoke, her voice was a little quieter than usual. "There is always a choice."

Rose gave a huff. How could she make this new gem understand?

Sapphire spoke up once more. "There are other ways of getting off to the planet. You know one."

Rose reached back into her considerable stretch of memory. Yes, there were ways of transporting objects off-planet, even small gems, but would it really work on a body of Sapphire's size? She'd never tried this kind of thing before. "It might not work," Rose replied. "There's a lot of risk involved."

"It's a risk I'm choosing to take," Sapphire argued. "I'll make it work. Let me take my own path."

Rose gave a reluctant sigh. Each new partner gave her interesting problems to deal with. She hadn't anticipated that Sapphire would give her a problem like this so early on, but if it would help the new gem feel in control of her life, then Rose would go to almost any hassle.

She held up both her hands and conjured a small pink bubble between them. Sapphire leaned in closer to get a better look. "I can use these bubbles to transport objects," Rose explained. "It works for gems, too, but the longer the distance involved, the less accurate the teleportation will be. At this scale, I could be off by a matter of miles. You might teleport too far away from our base to find us."

Sapphire watched as Rose let the bubble fragment and disappear from existence. Then, the new gem stood up fully, taking her previous position of confidence. "That works." There was not so much as a hint of doubt in her tone. "I'll find you."

"It will be a tight fit," Rose added. "Very tight. It won't be as soft of a ride as a warp pad, either."

"I'll manage," Sapphire asserted.

Rose was still worried, but she couldn't help but don a small smile. No other mission leader would have gone to these lengths to give their new partners a sense of security. She was glad Sapphire had been assigned onto this team. The empire was a very unforgiving place at times, but it was nice to see the new gem finding a home in the arms of the caring Rose Quartz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Easter Eggs: The SI-O2 is based on the chemical formula for Quartzes and Bloodstone. Also, "round brilliant" is a common gem cut for diamonds.
> 
> On an interesting note, Steven Bomb 2.0 did nothing to invalidate any of the plot points I have planned. Actually, it confirmed a few things about this fic's fanon. I doubt I'll have this much luck with the Week of Sardonyx, though.
> 
> A canon gem will be the main POV in every scene of this fic. However, as you may have noticed, this story has more than a few OC's. Considering the scope of this fic and everyone's varying backstories, it's unreasonable to assume that other characters won't become involved with the plot at some point. It's important to note, however, that this story is about the Crystal Gems first and foremost. The other characters are there to support them. I've given them names and personalities, but you don't have to worry about Garnet's story getting taken over by pointless Zircon-Sherry drama.
> 
> I'm going to try my hardest to get Chapter Four out by the start of Sardonyx. We'll see how things turn out.


	4. Too Similar

_"I have the map, and I steer the ship."_

* * *

Garnet shuddered. This was definitely worse than warping. When she warped, there was still room to move, and she had control over the process to some extent. Here, she was crammed into such a small space that her knees nearly touched her nose. Gravity pulled at her every which-way, and lights flashed from everywhere at once. All three of her eyes screwed shut as she desperately hoped for the ride to end.

The world abruptly fell still, and she felt the familiar sensation of freefall. Her eyes flew open, taking in the sight of what must have been the target planet. Unfortunately, Rose's bubble-warp had been slightly off-target, specifically a few hundred feet off in the vertical direction.

Garnet's first response could have been to fly into a panic. Or, it could have been to sigh in disappointment and accept her likely fate. Instead, both forces pulled her towards middle path of action without anxiety and rationality without resignation.

She braced herself against the walls of the bubble as it plummeted towards the ground. The jarring impact sent a shock of strain through her body. Only her internal support prevented the bubble from collapsing in on itself and shattering into fragments of light. Quickly, though, the sphere rebounded, sending her bouncing through a tangled, confusing landscape.

The orb slowly rolled to a stop. The world inside the bubble became still and silent.

After allowing a few moments of silence, she opened her eyes and reoriented herself inside the sphere. She could feel her body groaning from the strain and injury, but she knew the pains would mend themselves after a few short hours. She'd made it to this planet in one piece, and that was all that mattered.

Of course, now she was stuck on a strange planet and confined by the walls of the same bubble that had just now saved her. Luckily, she knew just the trick for solving problems such as this.

At a whim, a bundle of temporal trajectories spiraled out in front of her. This had been a happy surprise during her first time together. She had expected to be saddled with the same limited half-visions that had always plagued her separate existences, but instead, she'd found herself with two halves of a whole.

In order to use a map like this, she needed one of two things: a set of directions or a destination. It was easy enough to find one from the other, and she had a very clear destination in mind: breaking free of this bubble within the span of a few minutes. She quickly traced the path to this destination, and she was pleasantly surprised to find that one of the better solutions was to simply punch her way out.

Her hands and forearms lit up with her summoned weapons. However, these weapons quickly left her puzzled. One half of her usually summoned a single bracer, and the other half of her usually summoned one hand's worth of knuckle spikes. Now, she had two of each, one on each arm. She supposed she was fortunate to finally have complete set of something. Still, it didn't seem right to give one warrior two different weapons.

With a little bit of focus, the bracers slid farther down her wrist and began to engulf her hands. The knuckle spikes swelled around her fingers and settled into a new shape. When she was done, she had a pair of heavy gauntlets. Good for both protecting and for punching, just the way she wanted things. One heavy swing of her fist blasted through the bubble with ease.

The planet looked much different without the rose-tinted barrier. The sky here wasn't black like on Homeworld or gray like on Corundum. This one was bright blue, the color of her…of Sapphire's skin. Green, also, was everywhere, in tufts on the ground or in countless bundles of tiny flags. These flags seemed to grow everywhere, but the most prominent ones seemed to grow from the tips of tall, brown skeletons.

The skeletons went on as far as her eyes could see. They seemed to be very important to this planet, somehow. Life energy gently pulsed inside each one of them, a regular beat that cared little for the variances around them. Their progression was very direct, very simple, and very predictable. They all reached up towards the sky, splitting and spreading their reach, like…

Like the stalks of the infection that had nearly wiped out her entire cluster.

Part of her tensed in panic and wanted to run far, far away from this place without looking back. The other part of her, though, put an end to those foolish thoughts. Organic life could be dangerous, but as Rose had said, it had its restrictions. There was an obvious level of rationality to how these things worked. If there were thousands of weak gems running about on the surface of a planet, then life would find a way to consume them. However, she was the first and only gem to come here. As long as she kept to herself and tried not to disturb anything, her potential futures were very promising.

Besides, now that she had the chance to get a closer look at the growing things and their clusters of green, she could see they were nothing like the infection she'd once been so afraid of. These stalks were rough and hard like a set of armor. They were massive giants, things that took an eternity to grow, not fragile little things that grew quickly, released their spores, and then shriveled up. She plucked a green flag from one of the lower branches and rubbed it between her fingers. Smooth, yet slightly moist. Hmm.

She was getting sidetracked. Rose would be here within a matter of hours. As interesting as these organisms were, they were meaningless in the wake of what was at stake.

A few minutes were meaningless in the grand scheme of things, however. Either she would arrive at the landing site on time, or she would not.

A few minutes could make all the difference.

They weren't likely to, however.

A ripple went through her combined form. With twin spikes of distress, both parts of her abandoned their previous argument and wrapped themselves more tightly around each other. They couldn't fall apart like this, it was too dangerous, and after everything they'd been through…

Garnet took a deep breath, filling her massive lungs. Both times she'd come together, it had been out of necessity. Her two parts were still in danger. They needed to borrow each other's strength, not just to keep themselves safe, but to keep others safe as well.

As Garnet, she could peer deeper into the future than either of them could alone, and every time she looked forward, she could see a dark event approaching on the horizon. A disaster would strike in roughly six hours from now. She, Rose, Zircon, and Sherry could all perish within the span of a few moments. There were not many ways to avoid it, and the chances were slim that everyone would escape unscathed.

Rose would be key in avoiding the worst of what was to come, but Garnet still needed to be there to protect them. Not Ruby, not Sapphire, but Garnet. She was the one who could cheat causality and find her way to the landing site before the ship arrived. Her gauntlets could handle the secondary threats. If worst came to worst, then her combination of rationality and determination would allow her put her fellow crew members out of their misery.

The ship would most likely arrive at the beach of some massive ocean, which could be found by traveling in the direction of the currently-rising sun. So, that was where Garnet would go. The odds were good that she would arrive on time, but only if she started traveling immediately.

Before beginning her journey, however, she took a moment to pull the cloak free from her shoulders. She let it fall to the ground, where it faded into tiny sparkles of light and vanished completely. A cloak was less than useless on this planet. She could not afford to let it snag on branches and slow her down. Cloaks were meant to hide their wearers and conceal their secrets from view, but Garnet had no need for any of that anymore. There was no one to judge her here, no one to discover her. For the first time in her combined existence, she could have a little taste of freedom.

* * *

After a few hours, she decided that this planet was both too noisy and too quiet.

Garnet had known exactly two other planets before this one – one that was nothing but a desolate, lonely expanse, and one that was full of so many moving bodies that she'd barely been able to find her own way. This world sat on an uncomfortable middle ground. Flying creatures flitted around, screaming in high-pitched whistles. Tiny organisms crawled in every nook and cranny, even underneath her own feet, though she was only able to sense these ones through their life energy alone.

There was an incredible amount of activity on this planet. The lifeforms here had their own motions and patterns. Sadly, the futures paths of the organisms weren't particularly interesting. They were paradoxically too well-defined and too indistinct at the same time. They clearly had a few key purposes to pursue, but most of their actions were driven by random chance more than anything else. They had their paths, and they didn't try to deviate from them. To be more precise, it didn't look like they were capable of choosing to deviate.

The moving creatures soon turned out to be more unnerving than the tall, armored skeletons. The only time the infection had made noise was when its pods exploded and spread their. The creatures here made noise constantly, giving her sudden starts at what turned out to be the most innocent of noises. It was a shame that the creatures here clearly not intelligent enough to communicate. It would have left Garnet cripplingly lonely if she wasn't for the simple fact that she was never truly alone.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see soon enough."

Garnet reflexively pressed her back to one of the thicker armored trunks. Rose, Sherry, and Zircon shouldn't have completed the warp-jump yet. Even if they had, she would have heard them entering the atmosphere.

"Yosehka would throw a fit if-"

"He doesn't need to know about this."

"I know, but…"

There was someone here. Two someones, actually. They couldn't possibly be gems, and yet they talked. Cautiously, Garnet peeked around the side of her trunk.

The creatures took on similar forms as gems – two arms, two legs, a torso to connect all of them together, all the regular facial features. However, there was not a single gemstone on any part of their bodies. They stuck to subtle shades of brown and tan, and their shapes and styles were more reserved than Garnet was used to seeing. Most gems used their physical form as a vessel for self-expression. That was clearly not the case for these creatures.

The shorter one spoke in a higher-pitched voice, and its movements were strung tight with reluctance. "What happens when my father finds out?"

The taller one had more prominent muscles and broader shoulders. It also seemed to possess all the self-confidence between the two of them. "Your father doesn't need to know about this, either."

These were certainly not gems, but they talked to each other. They walked on two feet and tried to look each other in the eyes as they conversed. Garnet was curious, but she also understood that some things were better left alone. Perhaps if she…

Visions of the future stretched out before her, but not just visions of her future and what would happen if she strayed from her path to interact with these beings. She could see their futures, too, the results their choices. They would grow, they would change, and they would ultimately die, but there were so many ways they could go about doing any of those things. They had so many possibilities that it almost hurt to take in the scope of it all.

Unlike any other living thing on this planet, these creatures could choose their own paths. Yet another thing they had in common with gems, it seemed.

The taller one spoke again. "We're almost there, I promise."

The shorter one's gaze fell to the ground. "We really shouldn't be doing this anymore."

"Just this last time," the taller one promised. It gave its companion a weak smile. "Please?"

The other one sighed. "Alright. We need to get back to camp soon, though. Yosehka will begin suspecting something if we're gone for too long."

Garnet made the incredibly easy decision to silently follow them. She'd only trail they for few minutes, of course. She still had to arrive at the landing site on time, but for the moment, these creatures were traveling in the appropriate direction. She could afford to make some observations and contribute to her official assignment, even though the assignment certainly wouldn't matter in the long run.

It was surprisingly difficult to follow these creatures without being discovered. They knew how to navigate this planet, and for beings of their size, they were strangely adept at ducking through the various bundles of green. If Garnet hadn't been able to trace their paths into the future, she would have lost them several times over. What felt like an eternity of silence passed, and the deeper voice spoke up once again. "We're here."

The higher voice let out a gasp of surprise. "Wow…"

Garnet, now more curious than ever, increased her pace. She could barely make out the forms of the two creatures as they came to a stop. She stealthily took refuge behind one of the larger trunks and peeked around the side.

There were short stalks and buds everywhere, so similar to the ones from Corundum that she nearly cried out in shock. It took a few panicked moments of consulting the future to discover that these things couldn't hurt her. They were harmless.

The buds weren't here to infect anyone, and they certainly wouldn't explode into clouds of spores. In fact, when these buds exploded, they did so in slow motion, unfurling into a beautiful blast of color. They also smelled quite nice from here, which was a welcome departure from the reek of death that she had come to expect from Corundum. In a way, these stalks and buds reminded her of a crowd of gems, a countless collection of different colors and shapes.

The two creatures stood in the middle of the field, the smaller one clutching the larger one's hand. They were still, silent. These creatures recognized the beauty surrounding them, and they had a quiet respect for it. That was more than Garnet could say for any of the organic creatures she'd seen up to that point. More than she could say for a lot of gems, too.

"I want things to stay like this forever," the smaller creature spoke gently. "But these flowers only bloom like this one week out of the year. Then…"

"They die, I know," the taller one said. It wrapped its fingers a little more tightly around its companion's hand. "But, they come back year after year after year, the same week each time. That should mean something, shouldn't it?"

The small one gave a disappointed sigh. "It can't be like that for us. Once I'm married to Yosehka, I can't be unfaithful." It looked up into its partner's eyes. "This…us? We can't keep doing this."

"No one has to know about-"

"Then you want me to lie to my family? To my friends? To Yosehka?"

The taller one hung its head. "No. I don't want you to live like that. Just…" It placed its hands upon its companion's shoulders, locking eyes. "We've known each other our entire lives. I thought our bond could survive anything."

The shorter one's eyes now shone with the onset of tears. "Survive everything but service to my family, it looks like."

For a moment, the two of them could only stare into each other's faces. Then, slowly, the taller one leaned down, closing the distance between them.

Just as their faces were about to touch, the shorter one quickly brought up its hand and pushed against its partner's mouth. "No," it said softly. "We can't do this anymore. Not when the ceremony is tomorrow."

The taller one weakly pulled its face away. It closed its eyes, and Garnet could almost feel its radiating disappointment. "I know," it said, turning away. "I just thought… One last time."

The shorter one gently took its partner's hands in its own. "One last time," it quietly echoed. "One last dance. Just like when we were younger."

The other creature's face stretched into a smile, though its eyes had turned glassy. "I'd like that," it replied. "How should we…?"

The smaller one took a step back, still gripping its partner's hands. It held the position for a moment, and then it stepped forwards once more. The taller creature tried to mimic the movements, but its steps were clearly hesitant. "Sorry," it mumbled. "Out of practice."

"It doesn't matter," the shorter creature reassured. "I'll remind you how it goes. Forward, back. And again. Now left, right…"

"Right, I remember now."

"Better than you remembered my twelfth birthday, at least."

"Okay, you got me there."

Garnet tried to swallow her own feelings of empathy. Though she clearly didn't have the context she needed to understand these creatures, their conversation managed to find all the right weak spots inside of her.

They wanted to be together, but their society wouldn't let them. The more delicate one had been promised to another group of people, and the more muscular one couldn't follow. They would be forced to endure the tragedy of separation that they'd both feared for so long, and there was nothing either one of them could do about it. There was no way out.

Garnet had been a way out, though. Her two halves were now bound into a single being, one who was strong enough to fight off any threat to her safety and happiness together. She could navigate the future well enough to smuggle one of her halves past a terminal guard. She'd even tricked the renowned Rose Quartz into teleporting her off-planet, avoiding any confrontations about her true identity in the process.

If Garnet's visions were correct, then these organic creatures would never be able to fuse, no matter how desperately they danced. When the pressures of their society came down upon them, they would be torn apart. Figuratively, they were already being torn apart. This dance had an element of finality to it, a delicate sadness that was made all the more tragic by the beautiful field they danced in.

Garnet pushed her sight farther into the future and began sorting through their various options. There had to be some chance at happiness for these two, no matter how remote. As she searched, however, something seemed to be wrong. It was almost as if…

A vivid, incredibly likely possibility suddenly flared up in her vision: the body of one of the creatures lying cold, motionless, its chest decorated with a bright crimson.

Garnet pulled herself back into the present, face hardening. These creatures could not regenerate their bodies, and as such, one of their futures was about to be cut tragically short. Ended by one of their own kind, no less.

Her two normal eyes went searching for the culprit, another creature of the taller variety. Almost immediately, she found it approaching the clearing to her left. Though it walked slowly and stealthily, it clutched a spear in both hands. These lifeforms carried weapons, and if her visions were any indication, they certainly knew how to use them.

Garnet moved quickly but quietly. She was not built for stealth, but she had certain advantages over these organic beings. With one powerful, coordinated leap, she landed immediately behind the approaching being. It didn't become aware of her until it was already too late.

The creature spun wildly, striking out with its spear. One of her hands wrapped around the shaft, and she easily stopped the weapon before its razor tip could graze her. The creature gaped in shock for a moment, but it refused to loosen its grip on the spear.

"Who are you?" it whispered. "What are you doing here?"

Not wanting to interrupt the pair dancing in the nearby field, she returned its whisper. "It doesn't matter what I'm doing here. Stay away from them."

The creature tried to tug its spear away from her. It never stood any chance of succeeding. After a few failed tries, its expression darkened with anger. "That woman has been promised to me," it quietly seethed.

Garnet didn't exactly care. "They're happy. I won't let you kill one of them."

"I was never going to-"

Before the creature could finish its sentence, Garnet jerked the spear out of its grip, took the weapon in both hands, and snapped it in two.

The being could only stare for a few moments. "But…"

"You can't make your own bond by breaking someone else's," she said to it. "Now leave."

The creature shook its head, seeming to regain some of its composure. "I will not be addressed in this manner. She will soon be my wife, and I will not let her run off with this-"

Garnet had no patience for people like this. She dropped the two halves of the spear, and in a burst of light, she summoned her gauntlets.

The creature let out an abrupt yelp of terror. It apparently wasn't used to seeing such sights. Before it could free itself from the grip of fear, it ran back the way it came, weaving between the trunks as fast as its legs could carry it.

Garnet didn't bother to give chase. It would lead her too far off-course, and she was already pushing her luck with this most recent delay. The disaster would strike in only a few short hours, and she could not risk arriving late.

She glanced in the direction of the colorful clearing, hoping to see the pair continuing their dance undisturbed. Unfortunately, she discovered that the two of them were staring directly at her, their faces blank with awe. They weren't used to seeing sights like this, either. Garnet allowed her gauntlets to dissolve into swirling trails of light.

"So, uh…" the taller one spoke up. "Did he really want to kill us?"

It seemed that this pair had overheard quite a bit of her conversation with the other creature. It was strange, knowing that these creatures could overhear conversations. They were not gems. However, Garnet couldn't deny that these creatures certainly acted like it. They had reason. They had language. They expected her to socialize.

"I don't know what he wanted," she replied. "What he wanted doesn't matter. He was going to try." Her visions did a very good job of telling her the results of actions, but some of the details, the "how" and the "why", were a bit vague in places. Not that it mattered much to Garnet. Intentions were not nearly as important as the actions that came from them.

As expected, these creatures didn't understand the death she had seen in their futures. The shorter one looked particularly puzzled. "So, Yosehka didn't want to, but… I suppose he could have gotten angry enough?"

"He's a passionate man," the taller one agreed. "And he brought a spear."

The small one sighed. "I suppose."

"Although…" the tall one trailed off. It gave a small smile to Garnet. "What you said about not being able to make a bond by breaking someone else's, not many people around here are smart enough to realize that."

The creature looked at Garnet expectantly, as if waiting for her to make a remark. Garnet, not entirely sure what it wanted her to say, simply stood there and let the silence build. She was patient. She could wait for these creatures to get to the point.

A few seconds later, the taller creature tried to laugh off the awkward pause. "What I mean, of course, is that I don't think you're from around here. Where do you come from?"

Garnet, again, wasn't sure how to answer this. These creatures could talk, but she wasn't entirely sure of what else they were capable of. Did they know about the gems that would be visiting their planet? "I'm from far away," she replied, deciding that the vaguest answer was probably the best.

The taller creature narrowed its eyes at this answer, but the smaller one stepped forward, tilting its head sideways in puzzlement. "Who are you, exactly?" it asked.

Garnet opened her mouth to respond, but she soon realized that the answer was far more complicated than she'd anticipated. She knew her name was Garnet. She knew it as intuitively as her two parts knew their own names. However, was this one name really enough to describe everything that went into her being?

"I…" She paused again. She was not one person, not really. She was two gems of similar intentions bound together in such a way that their thoughts weren't quite…distinct anymore. "We…" No, that didn't work either. She had one body, one mind, one driving force. How could she possibly explain her fused state to these creatures when she still had trouble explaining it to herself?

"She doesn't need to tell us who she is," the taller one quietly muttered to its partner. Upon realizing that Garnet was listening to this exchange, however, it flashed a sheepish grin. "It'd be nice to meet the rest of her kind, though."

At first, Garnet was skeptical. These creatures meeting Rose and the others? That surely couldn't end well.

Yet, as Garnet investigated her map of the future, she was pleasantly surpised. Rose would almost certainly be fascinated by these beings. They might even be able to talk to one another, to learn from each other. These creatures made their life on this planet, after all. They could explain wonders that no gem would ever think to investigate.

When all was said and done, however, she could not afford to let the creatures become involved in the rapidly-approaching disaster. These organic beings would almost certainly be killed before they could interact with gems on any meaningful level. This pair had a much better future ahead of them if they stayed away from gemkind in general, actually. Gems and organic life didn't play well together. Corundum had made that clear.

Garnet saw the creatures staring at her expectantly. They weren't satisfied with her silence.

She hardened her expression and shook her head. "No. Go back to your kind. You have your own problems to deal with."

The taller one hung its head. "We understand."

"Yes, of course," the shorter one added. "Yosehka's probably found his way back to camp by now. Who knows what he's told my father?"

Garnet reflexively checked her map again, and much to her surprise, she discovered good news. "He's not back at your…camp," she explained. "If you leave now, you will get there first."

The small one narrowed its eyes. "Wait, how do you-?"

The taller one grabbed its partner by the shoulders and gently pulled it aside. "Not important. This spirit's helped us enough already, and we shouldn't question her." It looked up at Garnet's face, flashing a polite smile. "Thanks for the help, but like you've said, we should get going."

Garnet nodded. "Yes. Go." She should really be on her way as well. She consulted the future once more, glanced about for the direction of the sun, and quietly plotted out the rest of her trip. The beach was a little over two hours away. While this detour had cost her some time, she could still arrive before-

"This was an interesting meeting," the taller one added, momentarily interrupting her thoughts. "And I hope you have a safe journey home, wherever that might be."

Garnet couldn't help but freeze. These creatures had a place to call home, but she did not. How could she? Homeworld's officials wanted to send Ruby and Sapphire off to different corners of the galaxy. No one there understood, or even cared about, the bond the two of them had forged together. Corundum and its constant threat of death by infection was not her home, either. This planet here, with all its unnerving strangeness, could hardly be called a home for any gem.

Garnet quickly turned away from the pair of creatures and began trudging in her plotted direction. "Safe journey," she echoed back to them. "And stay away from the beach."

She didn't bother to listening to their replies. She had her own worries, and some of them would take more than two hours to sort out. This whole "home" business wasn't even the worst of it. If things on the beach went poorly, she wouldn't have to worry about returning to Homeworld at all. If worst came to worst, she wouldn't be able to worry about anything ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you think about it, flowers and trees would be pretty terrifying to someone whose only experience with organic life was being slowly choked to death by a slime mold. Also, I thought it would be interesting to give Garnet the first chance to interact with humans.
> 
> Enjoy Steven Bomb 3.


	5. Broken Bonds

_"This ship is going down! ...There's no time!"_

* * *

Despite how rare organic life was in the grand scheme of the universe, Rose was very familiar with it. Every gem had their talents, and Rose's talents meshed especially well with carbon-based organisms and their quirky ways of life. The assignment officials had realized her usefulness in that regard, and they tended to send her to any planets where organic life was even a remote possibility.

This assignment shouldn't have been those planets, however. Zircon had confirmed Sherry's calculations – the crust of this planet was overwhelmingly silicon-based. Carbon-based life shouldn't have been possible. Even if organics had managed to find a foothold here, they should have taken the form of simple, single-celled creatures.

Rose couldn't stop staring out the control bridge window. Green was such an unusual color to see outside of gem-controlled planets, but this world was completely saturated with the color. The dunes were swarmed with tufts of green poking up out the sand. Farther inland, those tufts graduated into towering bundles of Emerald-colored leaves. Even the restless sea, which should have been a clear blue, was a rich shade of teal.

"So…" Zircon mumbled at her side. "You bubbled Sapphire down to a planet that's completely infested with organics, and she's been stuck there for six hours now."

It was said that, on a molecular level, organic life was nothing more than a particularly complicated machine. It had its simple goals, and it took rational actions to achieve those goals. Rose had seen the evidence of this kind of straightforward logic on every life-bearing planet she'd explored. However, she couldn't deny that this world was a rather startling counterexample.

A handful of brown creatures flitted in-between the masses of towering greenery. Where had those animals learned to fly? Why did the plants insist on growing so tall? If these creatures had resorted to flight to gain an evolutionary edge on this planet, what could she expect from the organisms that had stayed on the ground?

"Rose," Zircon spoke again, tone slightly sharper. "You heard what happened at Corundum, right?"

Rose shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts. It was difficult to pay attention with so much vibrant life sitting just beyond those windows. "Yes, of course," she replied.

"She's probably not having any fun out there," Zircon continued. "Heck, if I was the one with a cluster that'd been wiped out by organics, I'd probably be terrified."

Rose narrowed her eyes in concentration. "Sapphire's not in any danger. The life here, it's…" She fished for a word that described the phenomenon she was experiencing. It defied all language. She could practically see the web of connections and relationships stretching out in front of her, growing and shifting with each passing moment. Every planet with pre-existing lifeforms had a web like this, but it was never this vibrant or complicated. Gem pioneers were probably the least important thing happening to this world.

"They're too specialized," Rose finally said. The phrase was a poor fit for this web of unexplainably complex interactions, but it would have to do. "The life here doesn't know how to hurt a gem, and it doesn't want to learn how."

Zircon made an indecisive grunt. "You're the expert, I guess. I still say our first priority should be finding Sapphire, though."

Rose nodded in agreement. Though she was confident that there was no danger here, Sapphire had no way of knowing this. It was important to help the new gem understand that she was still safe. Before Rose could voice any plans to this effect, however, Sherry's weak voice cut her off.

"She knew."

The Topaz was still planted in the copilot seat, her body hunched over her keyboard and her face hidden by her mass of hair. Rose felt a pang of sympathy, which was quickly followed by a spike of guilt. Sherry was unhappy, even distressed, and Rose had been too wrapped up the life of this planet to notice any of it.

Sherry suddenly gripped the arms of her seat. "She knew, and she wanted to get off the ship." She stood up out of the chair and fixed Zircon with a desperate look. "What are the chances of the Bloodstone malfunctioning? We are obviously in an oxygen-rich environment and under a powerful magnetic field. Do you think-"

At this, Zircon stiffened. "Really, Sherry?" She turned to the Topaz, annoyance painted all over her face. "Sapphire is lost and probably terrified out of her mind, and all you can think of is my craftsmanship?"

Rose couldn't help but speak up. "Zircon, you-"

"What, you still think you're better than me?" Zircon continued barking a Sherry. "'Oh, look at my gem, look how clear it is, look at how much information was in my upload!' After everything the three of us have been through, do you still think you're all that? Do you really believe my experience means nothing?"

Slowly, Sherry's eyes narrowed, and her fists clenched at her sides. "That's not what this is about."

Zircon's face soured even further. "Then what is it about, huh? For the past five hundred years, you've done nothing but criticize me, insult me, and call me a liar. If this isn't some attempt to blame all our problems on some bug I didn't fix, then what is it?"

Sherry stood her ground, teeth bared and body strung tight. "Fine. Alright, then. If this is what it's going to take, I'll do it." She hung her head, glared at the floor, and spoke through clenched teeth. "I'm sorry."

Zircon's anger faltered. "You can't be serious."

"I am serious," Sherry replied. "I'm barely older than Sapphire. You don't deserve to have someone like me criticizing you constantly, especially considering all the obstacles you've had to overcome. I'm sorry if I ended up being one of those obstacles. You've belittled every single one of my accomplishments, but I'm willing to forgive you for all of that if you'll just cooperate with me for once."

Zircon didn't speak, didn't so much as move. Rose almost couldn't believe what had just happened. Sure, this apology been a long time in coming, but Sherry was not one to apologize first.

The Topaz's eyes met Zircon's reflective goggles. "Is that good? Can we put aside our differences for just long enough to get out of danger?"

Suspicion was still etched all over Zircon's face. However, Rose could barely remember a time when her partner had looked so outwardly hesitant. Zircon opened her mouth to speak, seemed to think better of it, and quickly turned away.

Rose tried to make sense of everything that had just happened. When she was still unsure after a few seconds of silent thought, she stepped towards Sherry. "Where is all of this coming from? Do you really believe we're in serious danger?"

Sherry turned her head towards Rose and gave a weak smile. "When the future stares you in the face, it tends to give you a new perspective on things." Her expression darkened. "But, yes, I believe we are all in danger. Sapphire predicted that one or more of us would die, and I'm not going to take that kind of prediction lightly."

Rose wanted to take Sherry seriously. She really did. But, despite all of the recent drama, despite the apparent danger on the horizon, and despite Sherry's grim expression, the ridiculousness of everything bubbled over. Rose couldn't help but let out a full-bodied laugh. The harder she tried to stop, the stronger the laughter became.

When Rose finally recovered, she needed to wipe a few tears from her eyes. "Oh, Sherry," she heaved. "Sapphire couldn't have been serious about that."

Sherry's eyebrows twitched. "Why not?"

Rose couldn't help but giggle a little more. New gems really did have a poor sense of judgement. "First of all, nobody can see the future."

"Aquamarine gets quite close," Sherry reasoned. "And if the extra height is any indication, Sapphire has greater power reserves. Her sight might be more accurate, or she might be able to see farther."

Zircon abruptly turned back in Sherry's direction. All of her previous hesitance had evaporated. "What does Aquamarine have to do with this?"

This question left a thoroughly confused expression on Sherry's face. "What do you mean, what does she have to do with this? Sapphire looks exactly like her."

"Not really," Zircon said with a shrug. "I mean, yeah, there's a bit of a similarity in the overall body structure, but-"

"She has three eyes, Zircon!" Sherry exclaimed. "Aquamarine is the only known gem in the universe with three natural eyes, and she's also the only known gem who can see into the future. When another three-eyed gem walks up to me and starts making dire predictions, forgive me if I'm inclined to take them seriously."

Rose tried to suppress another laugh. Luckily, the desperation on Sherry's face was enough to smother her amusement.

Sapphire couldn't possibly see the future. Scientists still weren't entirely sure how Aquamarine could do what she did. If Sapphire possessed even a glimmering of the second sight, she wouldn't have been assigned to a simple pioneering mission. At the very least, the assignment officials would have mentioned something about this in her file. True, the said file was already incredibly inaccurate and misleading, but to leave out something this vital...

Her mind flashed back to one of her previous conversations with the gem. Rose had assured Sapphire that there was no organic life to be found on their assigned planet. Sapphire, a gem who had lived for less than five years and hadn't know the basic details of the assignment, hadn't believed her. When the older, wiser gem had told her that encountering organic life was nigh impossible, Sapphire had scoffed. At least some part of her had suspected that organics would come into play, and in the end, she'd been right.

There was also the way that Sapphire had reacted to the terminal guard. It had been uncanny, almost as if she'd sensed the guard reaching for her cloak before it'd had the chance to happen. She'd also recognized the Bloodstone without ever seeing it before. She'd recognized Rose too, for what it was worth.

A dark thought entered Rose's mind. Sapphire had anticipated that there would be organic life on this planet, and she'd convinced Rose to bubble her there regardless. She'd been unfazed by the fact that she might never find the landing site. Maybe she really had wanted to get as far away from the ship as possible.

"But…" Zircon gestured with her hands, floundering for words. "But none of this was on her file. If we were going to get a partner who, I don't know, shared one of our leader's most powerful abilities, I'd think we'd hear about-"

Zircon was silenced by a loud thud. The heavy sound reverberated throughout the ship's hull. A moment later, another thud rang out with the exact some tone as the first.

Zircon shot out a hand and planted it against the nearest wall. When the third thud sounded, her face lit up with recognition. "Someone's pounding on the doors to the air lock." At first, she stood perfectly still in quiet surprise. Then, her entire body lit up with energy and motion. "Sherry, do a quick diagnostics scan of the Bloodstone. If there's so much as a blip, bail."

Sherry gave a quick nod, launched herself into the copilot seat, and struck a major chord on her keyboard console.

Zircon rounded on Rose, but the older gem already knew what her partner was prepared to say. Rose turned on her heels and sprinted through the halls of the ship, running toward the air lock as fast as her legs could carry her.

Once there, she pressed her palm against the control pad, waited while it registered her identity, and issued the command to open both sets of air lock doors as fast as possible, safety procedures notwithstanding. The small doorway flew open with a hiss. A powerful, moist breeze swept her hair back and almost knocked her from her feet.

Before she could even register what was outside, Sapphire's tall form shout through the open doorway. Her momentum carried her into Rose, and the two of them slammed into the opposite wall.

"Sapphire!" Rose called out. "What's wrong?"

The new gem hastily pushed herself away. "Rose! Where are the others?" Though her eyes were still hidden by her hair, her body was strung tight with anxiety.

"Sherry's still on the bridge," Rose told her. "And so is-"

"Here!" Zircon shouted out from down the hallway. Her pounding strides echoed off the walls as she ran.

Sapphire nodded at Rose. "Good. You need to bubble the three of us."

Rose squinted in confusion. "Why? What's going to happen?"

"Nothing good," was Sapphire's succinct response.

Rose shot a glance at Zircon, who had almost reached them. If she wasn't running fast enough, then Sapphire wasn't saying anything. "Is this about the ship?" Rose asked. "Are we going to-"

"No time to explain," Sapphire forcibly interrupted. "Bubble us, and do it fast."

Zircon's footsteps suddenly slowed. "No, wait!" she called out. The pilot attempted to turn tail and run back down the hallway. Before she could take a complete step in the opposite direction, however, Sapphire lunged. The new gem slammed Zircon against a nearby wall, pinning her.

Rose hurriedly rushed after them. Zircon squirmed and struggled for a few moments, but it became obvious that she didn't stand a chance of escaping Sapphire's iron grip. Instead, she resorted to words. "Sherry's still back there! We have to get her!"

"There's no time!" Sapphire shouted. She rounded her attention on Rose. "Bubble, now!"

Rose hesitated, but she forced back her confusion and silenced her questions. Energy poured from her gem, and she hastily wove a bubble shield around the three of them. It was a tight fit, but Rose made the membrane dense and strong. She needed to protect them no matter what it took.

They held perfectly still for one, two, three seconds. Just as the thought crossed Rose's mind that this might have been a false alarm, Zircon gave a haunted shiver.

"Eugh," the gray gem moaned. "That can't be g-"

An explosion tore through the ship.

Noise was everywhere – shattering ceramics, concussive blasts, and the cries of the gems beside her. The three of them tumbled over each other as their sphere rolled. Rose quickly lost track of which way was up. She barely had the presence of mind to keep her bubble stable.

The bubble bounced once, twice, before gradually rolling to a stop. The membrane came undone, sending all three of them tumbling onto the moist sand.

Rose felt as if her thoughts were spinning inside her head. It had all happened so fast. She opened her eyes, meeting this planet's rich blue sky and its assortment of benign, puffy clouds. Where was the ship? Where was anything?

Rose was the first one to rise. She was very durable gem, something that had saved her life several times over. Her body was completely unstrained by the recent ordeal, though her ears still rung with the volume of the blast.

Zircon picked herself up a few seconds later. She pushed her way to her feet with what looked to be an enormous amount of strain and glanced in the direction of what used to be the Bloodstone. The explosion had launched them a few hundred feet down the beach, leaving the ship surprisingly far away. The green hull looked like it had been ripped open from the inside. Every window was cracked if not shattered completely. Sparks of current leapt from the exposed power lines.

"Sherry…" Zircon mumbled. Her voice was faint, but there was an utterly haunted note to it. "She's…she's gone. She couldn't have survived that."

Rose's heart twisted at the anguish. Zircon continued to stand in silence, but Rose didn't need any more words to tell what her partner was feeling. "This isn't your fault."

Zircon's body tensed. "Yeah, it kind of is. I could have apologized first. We could have patched things up ten, twenty years ago. Instead, I wasted our time with arguing. Not even productive arguing!"

"Zircon…" Rose spoke quietly, reaching a hand towards her suffering partner.

Zircon jerked her shoulder away from Rose's outstretched hand. "Yeah, I get it. I couldn't have known that things would happen this way. It doesn't change the fact that the Bloodstone is my ship and it's my fault when it blows up."

Rose gave her a pained look. "You couldn't have possibly prepared for-"

"Uh, yeah, I definitely could've," Zircon shot back. "That wasn't a random malfunction. That was the result of my most recent overhaul of the ship interacting with a…" Zircon paused, and she pressed both hands against the sides of her head. "This planet can flip its magnetic field like that? What the heck is wrong with this place?"

Rose's eyes widened. "You can sense something that faint?"

Zircon heaved a tired sigh. "Yeah. Magnetism and electricity interact with my inclusions." She tapped the pointed, gray gemstone on her throat for emphasis. "Anyways, Sherry mentioned a while back that it might be a good idea to put magnetic shielding on the Bloodstone to protect the new components, but I'd been so angry with her, I just…"

Zircon resumed staring at her destroyed ship. A cloud of smoke now trickled out of the holes in the hull, creating an ashen mark against the blue sky. "And now I won't ever get to apologize."

Rose couldn't help but reach for Zircon again. This time, the gem didn't pull away. Rose laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, trying to communicate her empathy without words. Zircon had tried to save Sherry, she really had. It was unfortunate that things had taken this dark turn, but Rose was positive that, whatever had happened to Sherry, she'd known that Zircon felt truly sorry about how far their relationship had devolved. After a few long, heartfelt moments, Rose let her hand fall to her side once more.

"She's…" a strained voice called from behind the two of them.

Rose whirled around to see Sapphire finally picking herself up. Her hair was in complete disarray, and for the first time, Rose could make out all three of her eyes. Sapphire's legs, normally pillars of strength, shook with the effort of holding her up.

Tears sprung to Rose's eyes on reflex. "Sapphire, you're hurt."

The new gem shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

Rose wrapped her arms around Sapphire before the gem could say any words in protest. "Of course it matters." Sapphire could have stayed far, far away from the ship and its violent fate. Instead, she'd come back and tried to warn them. She had put her own personal safety at risk to save them all, and she'd been injured in the process. Her body shuddered in Rose's arms, barely keeping itself together.

Rose couldn't help but release a few tears into Sapphire's puffy hair. After a few moments, Sapphire's trembling came to a sudden stop. Rose gently unwound her arms from the gem. "Thanks," Sapphire mumbled.

Zircon's face lit up. "Wait. You would know!" She suddenly rushed towards Sapphire. "Did Sherry survive? Is she going to be okay?"

Sapphire narrowed her eyes. "I don't know."

Zircon's expression took a turn for the desperate. "What do you mean, you don't know? Can't you just look into the future and see if we'll find Sherry or not?"

Rose shook her head. "It doesn't work that way," she explained. "From what Aquamarine has told me, she can see several possible futures, but she can't tell which one will eventually come true."

Zircon huffed in annoyance, though desperation still clearly dominated her emotions. "Then are there any futures, any ones at all, where Sherry gets out of this in one piece?"

For a few moments, Sapphire only stared in the direction of the ship. "Yes," she finally answered. "But I hope she doesn't."

Zircon's face twisted in confusion. "What's that supposed to-"

At that moment, the wrecked ship let out a deep, thundering groan. The hull rocked back and forth, trembling on what remained of its landing gear. One of the twisted wings shook free of the ship and hit the sand with a crash. Beyond the holes in the vessel's side, something shifted. Something was moving inside the Bloodstone, and whatever it was, it was absolutely huge.

Jagged, brown scales scraped past the sharp, exposed edges of the hull. A massive bulk clambered through the largest hole, pulling itself through with four muscular legs. Each of these limbs ended in a single, insectoid claw. Once the creature pulled itself entirely free of the ship, its several beady eyes looked across the beach to the three remaining gems. Its beaked mouth opened to unleash a horrendous shriek.

Zircon's voice went quiet. "Sherry?"

The monster lunged. Before Rose could so much as react, Sapphire sprang into action. She leapt at the creature, summoning a pair of gauntlets over her hands.

The pair of combatants slammed into each other in midair. The creature twisted around its opponent, trying to bite down on it with its massive mouth, but before it could succeed, Sapphire's armored hand swatted the beak away. The two opponents fell to the ground once more, throwing up sand with the heavy impact.

Rose put up her shield on reflex. A thousand different instincts and memories surged back into her body. She'd never had to fight this kind of monstrosity before, but the Fusion Queens had come fairly close.

The creature scuttled about on the ground and made a lunge at Sapphire. The new gem, instead of throwing another punch, nimbly leapt out of the way of its beak and rolled towards one of its legs. She swung her gauntlet around in a wide arc and landed a punishing blow against the leg joint. Her form was clearly unpracticed, but the power was there. The creature let out a shriek and twisted to bite at Sapphire once more.

Rose flung her shield out, and the whirling disc caught the monstrosity in the neck. While the weapon only bounced off its hard scales, not embedding itself in the beast as Rose had intended, it still served its purpose. The creature's head snapped towards Rose, its beak chattering furiously.

Sapphire took advantage of the distraction to throw another punch at the creature's leg. With a sickening crunch, the entire leg gave way at the joint, sending the monster to the ground.

The beast wasn't done fighting, however. In one lightning-fast, almost reflexive motion, it whipped its head around and snapped its beak in Sapphire's direction. The gem's amazing reflexes didn't save her this time. The monster bit down hard over her midsection. Sapphire let out a cry of pain and surprise.

"Sapphire!" Rose called out. She sprinted closer towards the battle and summoned another shield, but there was little she could do. The monster lifted its prey clear off the ground, ignoring the punches Sapphire threw against its tough beak. The creature then began to violently shake her back and forth like it was trying to break her through whiplash alone.

Sapphire's gauntlets winked out of existence. A moment later, the new gem lit up with a harsh white light. Bolts of electric charge shot down the beast's body. It shook with violent spasms, screeching all the louder.

The creature must have bitten down even harder in its pain, for Sapphire's physical form suddenly gave way, poofing into a cloud of dusty smoke.

Rose narrowed her eyes. This beast had just sealed its fate.

The creature's leg was ruined. It couldn't run. Rose surged towards the monster, shield extended, and slammed her weapon into the monster's face. When the beast only chittered and snapped at her in response, she bashed it with the brunt of her shield again. And again. She targeted the weak spots – the eyes, the beak joint, anywhere she imagined to be soft and vulnerable.

Its body was still smoking from Sapphire's electric burst. Its motions were weak and uncoordinated. Still, the monster just. Wouldn't. Give. Way.

"Wait!" Zircon called out from somewhere behind her.

Rose blinked. She paused, but the creature didn't take advantage of her hesitation. Its three good legs had collapsed, leaving its body slumped to the ground in an exhausted, injured heap. Half of its several eyes were closed, and the other half were dead to the world. The scales on its face were blackened with soot, cooked by Sapphire's electricity.

She turned back to where she'd left Zircon. The pilot ran toward her, and though she hadn't participated in the fight at all, she'd at least had the sense to pull a pair of daggers out of her gem. When she slowed to a stop beside Rose, she spoke again. "She's too durable. You're not getting through."

Rose glanced down at her shield. Silently, she let it dissolve.

Zircon looked at the weakly struggling monster. She fidgeted with the daggers in her hands. "What should we…?"

A half-dozen rather violent ways of dealing with this creature shot through Rose's head, but she immediately turned them all down. This needed to be quick and painless. "We could cut out the gem," Rose offered. "Do you know where it was on Sherry?"

Zircon swallowed. "Yeah."

As it turned out, Sherry's gem had been on the back of her neck, usually hidden by her frizzy hair. Here, the gem was cleverly concealed behind a ridge of scales. Zircon gingerly climbed on top of the creature's back, ignoring its warbles of protest. She lined her dagger up beside the brownish-pink stone, paused to steady her aim, and drove the blade deep.

The beast let out a high-pitched squeal. Then, its body vanished, leaving behind a rapidly-dissipating cloud of dust. Zircon let out a yelp at her sudden lack of support, but she landed on both feet, stumbled, and avoided falling over.

Rose reached down to retrieve the fallen gemstone. It was small, brownish-pink, and hexagonal, just like Sherry's. How had the Topaz generated this kind of monstrosity?

"So, uh, what's the plan?" Zircon asked.

Rose looked up from Sherry's gem. "Plan? For what?"

"For getting us all back home," Zircon replied. Her tone was flat and unbothered, like she was unaware of exactly how daunting this task truly was.

Rose thought for a moment. While she was confident in Zircon's technological skill, she didn't think it was possible to restore the Bloodstone after what it had been through. Looking at what had happened to Sherry, Rose wasn't sure she wanted Zircon to get any closer to that ship than what was absolutely necessary. "We need to call for help," she decided. "The distance is too large for a traditional signal, but I can still bubble objects back to Homeworld. It will have to be enough."

Zircon gave a quick nod. "Okay, that works." She reached for her belt and plucked her gem scanner off of it. "I can scan for Sapphire's gem, and you can heal Sherry's. Then, you can bubble them both back, and they can get the officials to send a rescue mission."

Rose supposed this was a good plan. However, one glaring flaw stood out in her mind. "Zircon, I don't think I can heal her." She gently rubbed her finger across Sherry's edges and facets. Luckily, it had escaped the explosion without a scratch. "Her gem is still whole. She must have lost her body in the blast, but she regenerated as…" As a monster.

Zircon pressed a few keys on her scanner with more force than was probably necessary. "What, so you think her entire memory got scrambled somehow? Fine. Just…fine. We'll find a way to deal with it later. If you can't heal Sherry, that just makes finding Sapphire even more important."

Rose glanced out across the sand. The surface of the beach had been churned up and trampled by the recent skirmish, and since Rose could not immediately see Sapphire's burgundy gem among the grains, there was a very good chance it had been buried. Finding Sapphire using the scanner was actually a pretty clever tactic. She only hoped that the gem hadn't been damaged in the scuffle.

The scanner flashed with a few lights and let out a high-pitched beep. Zircon peered at the screen, but even after a few moments, her goggled face was completely unreadable. "Huh. This'd be hilarious if was in the mood for laughing."

Rose narrowed her eyes in concern. "What do you see? Where is she?"

"I don't know," Zircon replied. "I had it on the close-range setting. I have to expand the scope, lower the detail, and…" The device beeped again. Zircon fell silent, though her expression remained as blank as ever. "That clinches it. This thing's broken."

Rose held out a hand. "Let me see." Zircon passed the device to her, and Rose carefully inspected the screen. She immediately recognized the source of Zircon's confusion, though she doubted that the scanner was broken entirely. There were parts of the readings that still made sense. The cluster of three dots near the center of the screen obviously represented her, Zircon, and Sherry.

However, there was a pair of dots sitting off to the side of the screen. This made five dots in total. Five gems, not four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know that the Earth's magnetic field doesn't flip that rapidly. It's a process that occurs on geological timescales. However, I needed a way to blow up the Bloodstone and give some insight on Zircon's abilities, and this seemed as good of a way as any.
> 
> The Week of Sardonyx was interesting for this fic. On one hand, Keystone Motel confirmed that, yes, my characterizations for Ruby and Sapphire were completely spot-on. On the other hand, that same episode broke this fic from canon. I'd like to believe that this story is still canon in spirit, though. Some plot-relevant details might directly contradict canon, but the characters will all still respond and grow in a way you'd expect from the show.


	6. A Bad Experience

_"She's all alone, I need to find her!"_

* * *

Rose and Zircon sat cross-legged on one of the flatter portions of the churned-up beach. On the sand between them were three gems. One was Sherry's, but the other two were not so easy to identify. One gem had a triangular facet, and Rose would have instantly identified this as Sapphire's gem if it weren't for the vivid blue color. The other gem had the benefit of being closer in hue, but it was still too bright of a shade, and its central facet was square.

After a few minutes of silent inspection, Zircon gave an affirming nod. "Mm-hmm. Yeah. This makes no sense at all."

Rose couldn't suppress a grimace. Her instincts agreed with Zircon. However, she hadn't been able to stop a certain idea from taking root in her mind. It couldn't be true. It was ludicrous from the outset. Yet, it explained everything – Sapphire's misleading file, her impressive height, and the way she'd set off the detector gate but managed to pass the guard's inspection. The more Rose thought about it, the more sense it made, and yet…

"You have an idea," Zircon correctly guessed.

Rose let out a tired sigh. "Yes, I think I might know what's going on."

Zircon snorted. "Yeah, good. Enlighten me, please." She plucked the blue gem off the ground. "You said this is Sapphire's cut, right?"

Rose nodded in response. "Yes, I think it must be Sapphire's gem."

"But the color is all off," Zircon argued. "Nothing outside of heat treating can change a gem's color like this, and even then, going from red-brown to blue is kind of a stretch." She picked up the red gem in her other hand. "And if that one's Sapphire, then who's this?"

"Ruby, most likely," Rose replied. It was the only candidate, really. Rose could imagine Sapphire's desperation to hold onto her one trusted friend after they'd left their cluster planet together. Still, to resort to something like this? How much danger had Sapphire seen in her future?

"Ruby? The other Corundum survivor?" Zircon asked. "Why? How?"

"There's something that can very easily change gem color," Rose replied. "It's unorthodox, but they could have resorted to fusion."

Zircon didn't speak. In fact, she didn't display much emotion at all besides blank confusion. Her gaze eventually fell to the gems in her hands. "So, fusion. What exactly does that involve?"

Rose had expected a much larger reaction than this, but she supposed that Zircon wouldn't understand the full implications. It was an older practice that was rarely talked about these days, let alone used. "If two or more gems can synchronize their thoughts and bodies, they can combine their physical forms into a single entity," Rose explained. "The resulting fusion has all the powers and memories of the contributing gems, but it also shares their flaws, neuroses, and weaknesses. It's a very risky maneuver."

Zircon frowned. She didn't look horrified at the idea, but she didn't look intrigued by it, either. "You'd think something like that would come up at least once in my information upload," she remarked. "Sounds invasive. Have you ever fused before?"

Rose hesitated. There were certain periods in history she preferred not to think about. "Yes," she answered. "But at the moment, it's not something I would do outside of deadly circumstances."

"Oh," was Zircon's simple response. She shifted her crossed legs and looked back down at the pair of gemstones. "So, the gem we met back on Homeworld, the one who saw the future and fought Sherry, that was Ruby and Sapphire's fusion? What does that mean for us?"

Rose thought a moment. Then, she reached out to Sherry's gem on the sand and silently wove a bubble around it. "It doesn't mean much. I'll just be sending four gems back to Homeworld instead of three, that's all." With a flick of the wrist, she sent the bubble off in the direction of her Homeworld office.

Zircon gave a little snort. "Y'know, we're actually pretty lucky this all happened as soon as it did. Warp space still has a hole in it from where the Bloodstone made her jump. It should help your bubbles find their way home."

She nonchalantly tossed the blue gem at Rose, who caught it with ease. Zircon continued, "But, if we wait until they regenerate, the path in warp space might close up. Are we going to let them come back so we can give them some instructions, or…?"

Rose bubbled Sapphire's gem in response. "We want them to make the journey as safely as possible," she explained. "Besides, we don't need to give them any instructions. Only one gem needs to send for help." Wordlessly, she sent Sapphire's bubble on its way, and then she held out her hand for Ruby.

Zircon hesitated slightly. She suddenly seemed to grasp the full intention of Rose's plan. Zircon stood up faster than Rose would have thought possible. "Nope. I'm not going back yet."

Rose sighed, and she stood up in turn. "This is for your own good," she replied. She slowly approached her partner. "You'd be miserable here. Do you really want to be stranded on this planet until the rescue party comes?"

"Yes!" Zircon cried out. "I mean, no, I just…" She shook her head, backing away. "Look, there's a lot I can still do here. I can start work on salvaging some of the Bloodstone, research what happened to Sherry, start a catalog of this planet's native species-"

"No, Zircon," Rose interrupted. She could see Zircon's reasoning for what it truly was: a list of excuses to mask her true motives for remaining on this planet. "Don't feel obligated to stay with me. I went on plenty of solo assignments before meeting you, many of them on planets far more inhospitable than this one." She spread her arms wide, gesturing to the towering plants growing in the distance behind her. She gave Zircon the gentlest, warmest smile she could muster. "I'll be fine."

Zircon gave a bark of humorless laughter. "Yeah, you'll do fine. You always do fine. That's why I don't feel obligated to stay with you, not at all."

Usually, these kinds of words from Zircon would have implied the opposite. However, she'd said them in such an overtly casual tone that Rose couldn't tell what she was trying to say. "Zircon, please be serious."

"Oh, I am being serious." Zircon crossed her arms. "Completely serious. The time we have here on this planet is precious. I'd much rather spend a few hours here with you than running around and jumping through hoops on Homeworld."

Rose hesitated. This conversation was not going in a direction she liked. "But what if something goes wrong? What if we both end up trapped here for the rest of our lives?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Zircon replied. "I'd much rather be here with you then on Homeworld without you. If that means getting stuck on this planet for the rest of eternity, that's a risk I'm willing to take."

Rose's mood dropped like a stone. She had noticed the friendship developing between her and Zircon. She'd embraced it, in fact. But, to think that Zircon depended on her that much… How hadn't she seen it before? Why hadn't she done something about it?

"Look," Zircon piped up. "Sapphire and Ruby had to be pretty resourceful to survive on Corundum for as long as they did. They're smart. When they regenerate on Homeworld, they'll realize we're missing and send for a rescue party. They don't need me there to tell them what to do, so-"

"Zircon," Rose gently interrupted. "Please."

Zircon fell still and silent. She really was a marvelous gem – kind, intelligent, and filled with potential. She shouldered so many burdens, and yet she carried on each day as if none of them existed. Rose was proud to call her a friend.

Still, Rose understood the exact place where Zircon was coming from. She knew how tempting it could be to fully depend on another gem for long-term support. However, Rose also knew how poisonous this practice could be. Dependence all too easily mutated into addiction. She hoped that Zircon was not already too far gone.

"Friendship is a wonderful thing," Rose spoke slowly and carefully. "But you have your own hopes and dreams. You aren't going to achieve those dreams if you stay with me."

Rose couldn't see Zircon's eyes, but she imagined them narrowing. "And if one of my dreams is to stay with you?"

Rose's eyes fell to the ground. "Then it isn't a dream you should be having."

Once again, Zircon fell still. She took a breath to speak, but the words never came.

"Gems weren't meant to be tied down to each other," Rose continued. "You can't stay with one partner for your entire life. You need to work with new gems, explore new possibilities." She gave a small pause, hoping that her words would sink in. "Do you understand?"

Zircon's expression grew unnervingly flat. "I understand," she muttered. "I've been your partner for dozens of cycles, but we can't go on like this forever. It's unfair to both of us."

A long, deep sigh of relief left Rose. She had expected this talk to end with either or both of them in tears. Zircon was being surprisingly mature about this. Still, Rose knew she couldn't leave her partner and faithful friend on a sour note. "I won't make you leave," Rose decided. "You're your own gem. You can make your own choices. Just..."

"Just understand the risks and weigh them against the proper rewards," Zircon finished. "And you've made it very clear: staying with you is not a reward."

With that, Zircon lobbed Ruby's gem into the air. Rose realized what was going on just in time to catch it. "Thank you." She encased the gem in a shimmering pink bubble. "Are you sure they'll be able to find help without guidance?" Rose asked.

Zircon nodded. "They're new. They're not stupid."

Rose whisked the bubble away with a twirl of her fingers. Then, she turned in the direction of the wrecked Bloodstone. Most of the sparks had tapered off, but smoke still poured from the vessel in earnest. The sense of danger surrounding the ship was enough to put Rose on edge.

"We should scavenge for supplies," Zircon spoke. She strode casually in the direction of the wreckage. "If there's any chance we can jury-rig a warp pad from the warp-jump matrix, we should take it."

Rose nodded, following her partner. "I'm right behind you."

* * *

Ruby knew she shouldn't rush her regeneration. Her instincts screamed at her to wait for a full day at least. But, she couldn't stand the thought of leaving Sapphire alone for much longer. So what if her new form looked almost exactly like her old one? She didn't care. She could fix after she made sure that both of them had gotten out of that fight in one piece.

"Ah, there you go," said a light, soft voice.

She opened her eyes and instantly began the search for her friend. Unfortunately, she was rapidly disappointed. This was some sort of office, a cramped space that really could've used a window or two. The shelves were overflowing with scrolls and knickknacks, but Ruby could sense that these objects were dead and lifeless. The only other living thing in this room was the gem sitting calmly behind the slate-gray desk. She was dark in color, and like most desk workers, her body type wasn't suited for combat or heavy labor. Her thinness seemed to fit her, though, the same way her black braid complemented her dark gray skin. The sterilized-looking smile was a little out of place, however.

This gem was not Sapphire, so Ruby gave less than a care about her. This room put an uncomfortable feeling in her chest. She might've seen this place in one of her nastier visions. She would've put her guard up if her guard wasn't already as high as it could possibly go.

With nothing else to focus on, she eventually let her gaze settle back on the obvious owner of this office. Ruby had never seen this gem in person, but somehow, she still recognized her. Knowledge of the more important government officials was a traditional part of the cluster informational upload. "Schorl Tourmaline," Ruby grumbled.

The councilmember gave a light, airy laugh. "Please. Call me Tourmaline. 'Schorl' is such an ugly-sounding word."

Tourmaline held out her hand to Ruby. At first, the young gem only stared at it warily. Then, she noticed something glittering in the palm of the black glove, and she leaned in a little closer out of curiosity. She hadn't known that Tourmaline was another left-handed gem. The smooth, polished surface reflected back any light the black stone didn't eat up.

Ruby looked back at Tourmaline's face and narrowed her eyes. "Why…?"

"We're similar," Tourmaline replied, still smiling. "I thought you might enjoy knowing that."

Ruby didn't know what to think. She didn't have the patience to wonder too much about it. So, she ignored Tourmaline's outstretched hand and cut straight to the chase. "Where's Sapphire?"

The dark gem shook her head, braid swinging back and forth. "Not finished regenerating, I'm afraid." She withdrew her hand. "You did the job very quickly, though. I'm impressed."

Ruby couldn't help but notice that Tourmaline still hadn't answered the question. "Where is she?" she repeated. She felt her skin begin to sizzle.

Tourmaline gave another airy laugh. The sound was really starting to get on Ruby's nerves. "Why, that's none of your concern, unfortunately."

As much as Ruby wanted to respect a gem in such a high position of power, rational thought didn't stand a chance. "We're from the same cluster," Ruby argued. "She's my friend. I just wanna be with her, and she just wants to be with me."

"Which is why she made that rather unfortunate attempt to smuggle you off-planet," Tourmaline replied. "My question, then, is how she managed to pull off that sort of trick. The gates should have detected your presence, and the guards would have investigated you at the first sign of suspicious behavior."

Ruby rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to sit here and answer questions when she could be on her way to find her one and only friend. "You're a councilmember or something. You've got connections. You don't need me to tell you anything." Ruby crossed her arms. "If you really want to know how I got on the Bloodstone, you can figure it out yourself."

At this, Tourmaline's dark eyes widened slightly. It was weird, seeing someone like Tourmaline look taken aback. "Do you really want me to find out without questioning you? Are you alright with that?"

Ruby's suspicion spiked a little, but she paid it no mind. "Yeah. Whatever. Just tell me where Sapphire-"

Tourmaline's hand wrapped around her throat.

The black gemstone burned against her skin like fire. Ruby tried to scream, but she found that her breath was no longer entirely under her control. Another being's energy was invading her own, crawling inside her skin and shooting throughout her body. Foreign thoughts prodded their way into her consciousness. She suddenly understood exactly what was going on.

Tourmaline had fused with a lot of different gems. Ruby knew this because she was not entirely Ruby anymore. She was…something different now.

But, due to her unfortunate gem placement, she would not be this "something" for very long. Tourmaline knew this, and it was why she was in such a hurry. She needed to work quickly before the pain could set in.

Before what pain could set in?

Before the pain of two gems trying to take up the same place on the same body could overwhelm the two of them and force them back apart.

Ruby struggled against the invader, body crackling with heat. This fusion wasn't anything like with what had happened with Sapphire. Back then, they had been working together in equal parts. With Tourmaline, it was entirely one-sided.

All fusions were one-sided. It was simply a matter of how strong the control was. Admittedly, Ruby was putting up a valiant effort, but it was nothing for the likes of Tourmaline to deal with. Ruby was a novice. Tourmaline was a master. She knew fusion on a level that Ruby would never reach.

Ruby had been part of a fusion for three years straight and then some. How much could Tourmaline know, anyways?

This new gem had no idea what the empire had been like before Aquamarine and Emerald. Fusions had walked the streets as hideous, unstable amalgams. Fused collectives of five, six, seven gems had risen in power, taking whatever they wanted and destroying whatever they pleased. Chaos had reigned as the different Fusion Queens had sought to conquer the galaxy for their very own. There had only been two ways to survive this constant state of civil war: take control, or allow someone else to take it instead. It was a lesson that Ruby still needed to learn and one that Tourmaline would never forget.

Ruby didn't care what the past had been like. The present was the only thing that mattered.

It was sad, then, that Ruby would have no future with her little blue friend.

Where was Sapphire?

In a place where Ruby would never find her.

Where. Was. Sapphire?

It was unusual, actually, that Ruby and Sapphire had been able to figure out fusion all on their own. It was an incredibly difficult technique, at least for most gems. Beyond that, it was also highly illegal.

Fusion couldn't be that illegal if Tourmaline was still doing it.

Nothing was illegal for someone in her position. As things stood, however, Ruby was hardly the last fusion Tourmaline would experience. She might be able to stop by Rose's office after this was over and show Sapphire the true meaning of fusion as well.

Ruby tried to kick out. She tried to burn this horrible monster infesting her mind and body. She couldn't let this happen.

Against Ruby's will, or whoever's will she was right now, a vision struck.

Schorl Tourmaline gently wrapped her arms around Sapphire, reassuring her, telling her it was alright. Ruby was gone, and she was never coming back but Tourmaline was here. Sapphire would be happy with her. They could be there for each other. They could be happy together.

Ruby landed back in her chair, finally free of Tourmaline's grip.

As she opened her eyes again, all she could hear was Tourmaline's laugh. "Oh, you're a feisty little cutie, aren't you?"

Ruby growled. She was not cute. She was new, but she was a fighter, a survivor. She had every right to be taken seriously.

Tourmaline continued. "Although, I suppose this little experiment did answer my questions. You hid with Sapphire as part of a fusion, and then you convinced Rose Quartz to teleport you off-planet." She laid a finger on her lips, tapping it thoughtfully. "I suppose I'll need to have a little talk with her about this later. Rose Quartz has done wonders for the empire, but she doesn't exactly follow protocol. It's becoming quite bothersome."

Ruby gritted her teeth in anger. There were no secrets in a fusion, not even in something as wrong as what had just happened.

"Or maybe…" Tourmaline trailed off. "Perhaps I won't need to talk to Rose Quartz about this after all. Perhaps I can finally be rid of her for good." She flashed a triumphant, over-white smile at Ruby. "You'll have to play along, of course."

Ruby pulled her lips back in a snarl, but she forced her eyes to the ground. Tourmaline had already been through her thoughts and memories. She wasn't going to give the enemy anything else, not even words.

"It's good to see that your visions are strong, at least," Tourmaline continued. "It's such a shame that you don't have the power to control them. Although, if your memories are anything to go by, fusion might be an easy way to correct this problem."

Ruby went rigid. She wouldn't dare let this twisted gem lay a hand on her again. She wanted to punch Tourmaline until she retreated to her gem, then punch the gem until it cracked, and then run off to find Sapphire no matter who tried to chase her.

But this was not how Garnet would have done things.

That thought cut through Ruby's rage. Garnet would have realized that such a fight was pointless and risky. Yes, this monster needed to suffer for what she had done and for what she wanted to do, but finding Sapphire was the top priority. Attempting to fight a gem like Tourmaline would have only put that goal in jeopardy. The councilmembers' insufferable arrogance practically demanded that she be punched in the face, but Ruby needed to have patience. Her time would come eventually.

It was a good thing that Tourmaline was so irritatingly arrogant, actually. She still hadn't realized that the secret-sharing nature of fusions worked in both directions. Sapphire was in a bubble hovering over Rose's desk, just like Ruby had been until Tourmaline decided to have a little chat with her. Tourmaline had known the way to Rose's office by heart, and now Ruby did, too.

Ruby was on her feet and out the door in an instant. However, she barely made it around the first corner in the hallway when an overpowering force slammed into her.

She was trapped. Restrained. She didn't know how, but something tied her down and restricted her movements. Tourmaline stood before her, holding Sapphire's gem in her hands. Sapphire's small, helpless gem.

Ruby cried out. That monster was threatening her other half, she was-

"I warned you to keep in line," Tourmaline said darkly. "It would have been so simple. But now, you've gone and disobeyed me. I can't let that go unpunished, can I?"

This couldn't be happening. It wasn't real, it couldn't possibly ever be real…

Tourmaline couldn't possibly be slamming her boot down on Sapphires gem, shattering it to pieces.

No. This wasn't happening. Ruby wouldn't let it. Even if she had to fight every gem in the empire, even if she had to face down the likes of Yellow Diamond or Emerald, she'd do it. Sapphire was all she had left.

She willed herself back into the present by sheer force of determination. Ruby picked herself off the floor, wincing at the soreness of her recent face plant. She must have tripped and fallen when the vision had taken over. Where had she been going? Right, she was still on her way to Rose's office.

Before she could take another step, something slammed into her back. There was a measure of reality to it this time. Ruby could feel Tourmaline's dark, sinister energy radiating from behind her. An over-large hand, probably the result of shapeshifting, clamped around her arms and lifted her clear off the floor.

Ruby managed to give a loud, panicked shout before one of the fingers curled around her mouth. Even once she was silenced, Ruby continued to struggle and scream. She refused to let this abomination try to fuse with her again. Anger flared up, burning so hot that she couldn't have contained it even if she'd wanted to.

Tourmaline's massive hand pulled away. "Yowch! You little-"

Ruby hit the floor with a heavy "Oof!" She then clambered to her feet as fast as she could. She couldn't give Tourmaline even a moment to recover. Ruby bolted down the first hallway she saw, planning on getting her bearings later.

A harsh splinter of pain dug into back. The agony was nearly enough to take her off her feet. She stumbled, and before she could even turn around, that same pain cleaved through her left wrist.

Her body, now separate from her gem, blasted apart. The pain was gone. The world was gone. The only thing that wasn't gone was Ruby herself.

* * *

She'd thought her first regeneration was urgent, but this brought it to a whole new level. When she opened her eyes, though, she could see that she'd been too late. She was back in Tourmaline's office and sitting in the exact same chair as before. The only difference was that she couldn't see anyone sitting behind the desk. When she tried to turn her head, the sharp curve of a blade hooked around her throat.

Ruby froze. Tourmaline's laugh roared in her ears.

"You're lucky that these hallways are empty," the black gem cooed softly. "Everyone has gone to see Sherry's regeneration, and they will be busy dealing with that corrupted monster for a good, long while. No one heard or saw your adorable little escape attempt."

Ruby screwed her eyes shut. Maybe, if she focused enough, she could force herself to see a vision that would help her find a way out of this. She hadn't been able to get it work in the past, but in her blind fear, it was the only thing she could think of trying to do.

"Now listen to me," Tourmaline continued, her voice dropping to a dark murmur. "In a few hours, you will be asked to speak in front of a council meeting. I will tell you what to say, and you will say no more than what I tell you. Understand?"

Ruby made her face the very picture of defiance. "I'm not doing anything for you."

Tourmaline sighed, allowing her blade to droop slightly. "You don't wish to follow my orders of your own free will, then. I understand. I need to deal with gems like you all the time."

The blade suddenly pressed tight against her throat. Ruby gripped the arms of the chair in panicked reflex.

"One of the best parts of fusion is that you can literally go inside someone's head. You learn about them on a much higher level. You find out what makes them tick. You discover exactly who you need to threaten in order to convince them to cooperate."

Ruby's eyes widened. Her most recent vision played back in her mind. No, no, this couldn't be happening. Sapphire had to be safe, she had to-

"If you don't behave, I can arrange a little…accident, let's say, for your friend," Tourmaline continued. Much to Ruby's surprise, the blade suddenly came away from her neck. "I think that sounds like a fair deal, don't you? You misbehave, but your friend is the one who suffers for it?"

Ruby wanted to squirm with anxiety, but fear held her firmly in place. She was trapped. There was no way out of this. She knew that there had to be some future out there where both she and Sapphire escaped together, but it was hard to believe in that future when all she could hear was Tourmaline's breathy laughter.

"Step one," Tourmaline said. "Cover that third eye of yours. We don't need anyone asking questions about what was really happening at Corundum."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy end-of-hiatus, everybody!
> 
> It never satisfied me that Homeworld just didn't like fusion from an ideals standpoint. Yes, they might think of it as "cheating". Yes, they might despise fusion on account of it representing emotional/physical weakness. However, I find prejudices more compelling when there's a historical motive behind them. Homeworld hates fusion? Make it because the empire was literally taken over and ruled by some evil fusions for a while. Make fusion a representation of gems taking advantage of each other. Give the older gems like Rose memories fusions being amoral monsters, and then it comes to no surprise when later gems like Peridot use fusion to create literal monsters.
> 
> Also, I'm pretty sure that a gem with the ability to force-fuse would be the perfect villain for Garnet. Just saying.


	7. Not Lies, Politics

_"You're not as above this as you think you are!"_

* * *

"And now, I yield the floor to Ruby," Schorl Tourmaline spoke. Her tone was perfectly polite, perfectly measured, and perfectly political. "Please give her your full attention as she recounts what happened on the surface of the Bloodstone's target planet."

Some part of Ruby still couldn't believe she was here. She was just some new, unrecognizable little gem, and yet here she was, surrounded by all these recognizable faces. The three Diamonds. Vermarine. Heliodor. At least a dozen others. Ruby had known that these gems would be taller than normal, but nothing in her information upload had prepared her for this. Most of the gems on the council were over twice her height. Only a handful of them, like Lapis Lazuli and Schorl Tourmaline herself, could be considered "small" by any stretch of the word.

A respectful quiet settled over the auditorium as Ruby stepped up to the podium. It would have been completely silent, but Ruby couldn't help but nervously tap her foot. Her platform was right at the heart of the councilmembers' semicircle of tables. In the middle of the arc, she could see the vivid green of Emerald's muscular bulk. Sitting next to her was the much shorter, much more reserved Aquamarine. If Ruby stared hard enough, she could make out each of Aquamarine's three eyes.

Ruby nervously adjusted her headband. Tourmaline had told her to dodge all questions regarding the templating that had gone on in the Corundum cluster. It was apparently "classified information" that not all of the councilmembers were privy to yet. Ruby found it weird that the rulers of the empire didn't already know about something that big, especially when it was Aquamarine's own energy signature they'd used for the template. She wouldn't question her orders, though, not when Sapphire's safety was at stake.

The weight of the silence built up on her. She was waiting for too long. But, the longer she hesitated, the more nervous she got, and the more she wanted to hesitate. She was about to lie to the entire council. She was going to try to deceive the very leaders of the empire. She couldn't do this, she was going to mess something up, she-!

The image of Tourmaline's boot crashing down on Sapphire's gem flashed behind her eyelids. Ruby hardened her resolve. She just needed to calm down, go slowly, and try to tell the truth whenever possible. Ruby took one last, deep breath to calm her nerves.

"I smuggled myself onto Rose Quartz's ship," she began. "Me and Sapphire, we're the two Corundum survivors. After what happened to our cluster, we didn't want to leave each other. I decided to ditch my assignment, and she helped me sneak onto hers. I ducked through one of the detector gates when I thought all the guards were busy. After that, getting on the ship was easy."

Ruby paused, looking out across the colorful faces of the council. All of what she'd said up to this point was technically true, if in the most misdirecting way possible. Here was where the flat-out lies began.

"Rose Quartz discovered me, but I convinced her to let me stay on the assignment. She thought it was…cute that we wanted to stay together. She helped us retreat into our gems for the trip, and when we got there, she helped us start setting up the base. It was fun. For a while, at least. Then, the planet's magnetic field reversed."

Ruby paused, ready to hear the cries of outrage. She waited for someone to shout out something that could catch her in her lies. But, nothing came. The entire council was completely silent. In fact, some of them looked downright intrigued. Aquamarine even raised a single eyebrow as if to say, "Go on."

Ruby continued. "I could sense the magnetic shift coming. World energy and stuff, it's…kind of my thing. Our planet had a really strong magnetic field to begin with, and when I felt the field reversing itself, I didn't think the Bloodstone would be able to handle it. So, I told Sapphire what was going on, and she ran us outside of the ship before it hit. We didn't get hurt, but the shift caused the Bloodstone to…" Ruby swallowed a lump in her throat. "Um, explode."

A few gasps rang out from the council. Ruby gripped the sides of the podium a little tighter in alarm, but she soon realized that these gasps were not a bad thing. They meant that at least a few of the councilmembers believed her story. Suppressing a sigh of relief, Ruby went on. "Sherry, Rose, and Zircon were all still inside when it happened. Their gems were okay, but when they regenerated, they were corrupted pretty bad. You saw what happened to Sherry."

"Indeed!" a rich, booming exclamation suddenly rang out. Once Ruby determined the source of the voice, her knees nearly buckled underneath her. Emerald herself stood up out of her seat, momentarily taking the floor.

"However, I believe Rose can create a forcefield that shields its occupants from these kinds of things," Emerald continued. "Did she know that the magnetic shift was coming? Did you warn her at all? She might have saved all five of you."

Ruby ducked her head lower. Tourmaline hadn't given her an answer to this question. The easiest way out of this predicament would be to say that, no, Ruby hadn't thought of telling anyone else. She had been too frightened to think of them or too far away to do anything about it. She had failed to warn them, failed to save them.

But Garnet had warned them, and Garnet had saved them. Together with Sapphire, Ruby had pushed past the fear of her own demise and fought for a future where almost everyone had escaped the shift unscathed.

Ruby stubbornly pushed down her feelings of helplessness. She refused to feel guilt over any false failures. "I did warn them, Your Brilliance. But, I don't think Rose's bubble shielded them well enough to save them. It…" She hesitated, trying to find a lie that could explain this. "I think it slowed down the corruption a little. She looked pretty bad when I last saw her, and she was getting a lot worse, but she was still stable enough to bubble the three of us back to Homeworld. Right?"

Emerald gave a smooth, measured nod. Her face became slightly thoughtful. "I suppose that explains quite a bit." She sat down just as abruptly as she'd stood up. "Carry on, then!"

Ruby gave a sheepish smile. She was almost done. There was just one last bit of the story to tell.

"When the two of us went back to the ship to see what had happened to the others, Sherry had already turned into that huge beast-monster. She was attacking Rose and Zircon, so Sapphire and I ran over to help them fight. It…wasn't really a smart idea. We were lucky at the beginning of the fight, and we hurt her a lot, but in the end, she dusted both of us. The next thing I knew, I was regenerating in Tourmaline's office."

She looked down at the ground. "Rose and Zircon, they must have finished off Sherry together. They saved me and Sapphire, and then Rose bubbled both of us back here. I really wish I could thank them, but…"

"But they are no longer with us."

Ruby looked up at the voice. Aquamarine was now standing, her three eyes clear and focused. Ruby found herself unable to look away. The ruler looked so much like Sapphire – the hair, the flat face, the gentle colors.

"You believe Rose and Zircon are corrupted," Aquamarine continued. Her voice was softer than one would expect from a leader. "However, I see a small chance that they are not. Are you absolutely sure that they are beyond hope?"

Ruby tried to speak, but she could only work her jaw uselessly. She knew what it was like to effortlessly peer into the future. Aquamarine was just one quick glance away from unraveling this entire web of lies. How could Ruby deceive someone who was so close to finding all the answers?

Aquamaine didn't seem to mind Ruby's silence, for she continued. "If there is even a chance that Rose and Zircon remain whole, then it is your duty to tell us. We could mount a rescue party within a matter of hours."

So, this was it. Either Ruby could lie, dooming Rose and Zircon, or she could tell the truth, dooming Sapphire. It wasn't much of a choice, really.

Ruby blew out a long breath. Then, she fixed Aquamarine with the steadiest gaze she could muster. "Rose and Zircon are corrupted," she announced confidently. "There's no chance we can save them. They're gone."

A moment passed. Then, Aquamarine folded her hands in front of her. "Alright. If what you've said is true, then sending a rescue mission would not be worth the risk involved. The chances of a target planet reversing its magnetic field during your trip should have been abysmally low. The fact that it still occurred leads me to believe that this planet must reverse its field incredibly often. Perhaps as often as once every few days. In this case, any gem ships could easily be caught in a shift during a rescue operation."

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. I mean, it'd be horrible, leaving Rose and Zircon behind, but…"

"But taking everything you've told us into account, a rescue mission would be a grave mistake. In fact, the entire planet can be deemed uninhabitable and unfit for colonization," Aquamarine finished. "Thank you for speaking with us. Your information was invaluable. You should be free to go."

Ruby let out a relieved sigh. She didn't know how these politicians could stand their jobs. She hated all of this pressure and all of these lies.

"However," Aquamarine continued. "I see that there is still one question on everyone's minds. Would anyone care to ask it?"

Ruby's breath caught in her chest. Why couldn't this just be over already? She was so close to getting out of here!

To Ruby's growing horror, another councilmember stood out of her seat. This time, it wasn't either of the two council leaders. The oval face, cascade of cerulean hair, and perpetually-placid expression could have only belonged to Blue Diamond.

"I believe I know which question you speak of," the Diamond said calmly. "May I have the floor?"

Aquamarine gave a respectful nod and returned to her seat. The bright blue gem's eyes shifted to Ruby, who had to try very hard not to hide behind the podium. Emerald and Aquamarine were the leaders of the council, but they'd still tried to look professional and accommodating. Blue Diamond just looked…cold.

"Ruby," the Diamond began speaking. "You told us that you chose to stow away on Sapphire's assignment. Why not the reverse? Why not convince her to stow away on yours instead?"

Oh. Ruby hadn't anticipated this question at all. In hindsight, she probably should have. With most questions, her answer could tell at least a little bit of the truth. Here, that couldn't be the case at all.

Garnet had been trapped in that volcano for years on end. She'd been able to look through the millions upon millions of potential futures and find the best one for both of her halves. It hadn't been easy. No matter how hard she'd looked, she'd been forced to come to a conclusion: Ruby and Sapphire were almost destined to die on their separate assignments. The only path to survival had involved fusing, smuggling Ruby onto Sapphire's pioneering group, and hoping everything turned out for the best. Even then, there had been some risks. Garnet had been extremely lucky.

Of course, Ruby couldn't tell the council that. Instead, she stuttered out an, "I-I-I don't know. I guess…" A few ideas popped into her head. "Rose Quartz looked like someone who'd be okay with me tagging along? And Sapphire didn't think she'd do well on my construction team?"

She nervously glanced around the different councilmembers. None of them said a word. She looked at Blue Diamond again, but at the sight of that blank gaze, she couldn't help but let her eyes drop.

"Interesting," the Diamond finally remarked. "Blind luck, then, is what drove your actions, and it is the sole reason for your survival."

Ruby could have told them that it had been supernatural perception, rather than "blind" luck, that had saved her. She could have said that, but she didn't. Those kinds of remarks wouldn't have kept Sapphire safe.

"Now, if that is all, you should be free to go," Blue Diamond announced. She glanced to the two council leaders, who each nodded their approval.

Once Ruby was sure this meant she could leave, she couldn't get away from the podium fast enough. Braving the infection had been better than letting all those eyes drill into her. She had no idea what kind of assignment was waiting for her after all this was over, but she decided that "public speaker" probably shouldn't be one of them.

On her way to the door, she felt Tourmaline's gem-ladened hand on her shoulder. Ruby's body lit up with shock.

"Shh," Tourmaline hissed quietly. "Wait outside for me. Then, I will tell you your arrangements."

Ruby jerked her shoulder out of Tourmaline's grip. "Yeah, whatever." She could wait. It wasn't like she had anywhere better to go. She had nowhere to go at all.

* * *

It felt like an eternity before Tourmaline finally left the council meeting and began to escort Ruby down the elegant capitol hallways. The older gem walked in silence, forcing Ruby to look for something else to sooth her itching boredom. She could have looked at the intricate, endless mosaics decorating the walls and ceiling, but it would have made her only more agitated. The same went for the dozens of crystal statues lining each side of the entrance hall. Everyone knew that the capitol building had to be rebuilt at the start of each cycle, but the politicians didn't care about that. They just wanted to rule their empire from their pretty little building and scheme of new ways of getting rid of each other.

Alright, fine, Ruby knew that not all politicians were evil like Tourmaline. If Aquamarine's influence over the gems of Corundum meant anything, she was had a pretty decent moral compass. Still, the council had made the calculated risk to put a cluster on Corundum in the first place. When the cluster had gone silent, it had taken the officials nearly five years to notice something had gone wrong and send a rescue team. Ruby couldn't convince herself that these people cared about anyone other than themselves.

Her simmering anger faltered at the sight of one crystal statue in particular. The curls of hair, rounded body, and gentle smile were all unmistakable. These statues were supposed to include all the gems who'd ever been a part of the council, but seeing Rose's form among them shocked her. How could Rose have been a politician like Tourmaline? At times, Rose had seemed to care about everybody but herself. Maybe that was why she wasn't part of the council anymore.

"I'd thought you'd be more concerned about Sapphire," Tourmaline finally spoke up.

Ruby tore her eyes away from Rose's statue. She crossed her arms and glared angrily the ground instead. "I am. You're not going to tell me what's happening to her, though, so why should I even ask?"

Tourmaline responded to this with a chuckle. "So aggressive! I thought out little agreement would have taken that out of you. It looks like I was mistaken."

Ruby? Stop being aggressive? There was only one gem in the universe who could possibly convince her to cool down, and Tourmaline was essentially holding that gem at swordpoint. It was a wonder Ruby hadn't burned anything up yet.

"I've already found an assignment for your little friend," Tourmaline continued. "Isn't that wonderful?"

Ruby didn't want to be interested in anything Tourmaline had to say. At the mention of Sapphire's assignment, though, she couldn't help but be curious. "An assignment? Seriously?" They'd only been on Homeworld for six hours at most. Tourmaline worked quickly.

"I oversee the assignment officials, after all," the black gem said with a smile. "I was able to put her at top assignment priority. It's simply unfortunate that she doesn't have many talents to speak of. Too weak to be a laborer, too dim to be an engineer or technician, too reserved to be a-"

"Get to the point," Ruby growled.

Tourmaline gave an indignant huff. "Well. I only mean to say that she does not have the capacity to serve the empire in anything other than a servant role. Luckily, I was able to assign her to a gem of a very high status. To a councilmember, actually. She'll be one of the highest-ranked gems of her work sector."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "A slave's still a slave." She allowed herself to relax a little, though. If Sapphire was assigned to another councilmember, then Tourmaline couldn't hurt her without drawing a lot of very bad attention to herself. Sapphire, for the most part, was safe. Ruby no longer had to worry that one little mistake on her part would get her friend brutally shattered.

"You have much better options available to you, fortunately," Tourmaline went on. "Your strength and small size make you the perfect candidate for the construction sector. Or, perhaps the law enforcement sector would find you useful. You do have a few bells and whistles. We'll see what positions are open when we return to my office."

Ruby wanted to shoot Tourmaline with an annoyed glare or a sharp retort. She wanted to, but before she could act, another vision slammed into her. Why did they always manage to interrupt her during something important?

A deep rumble shook the ground. She gave it only a passing thought. The broken walls of buildings still surrounded her, but if any of them were going to collapse for this quake, they would've done so already. Her footsteps echoed down the long, empty spaces of the sagging hallway as she ran. This was taking way too long. If she didn't find a working warp soon, she'd been done. Stranded. Helplessly trapped on a dead planet, just waiting for the day when everything would finally collapse.

Ruby shook her head. The imagery cleared from her mind. Most of her visions were confusing, but with this one… With this one, it felt like she should have known exactly what it was about. She just couldn't make any of the necessary connections. Earthquakes and collapsing structures, what did it mean?

"Another vision, I take it?" Tourmaline remarked, obviously amused.

Ruby gritted her teeth. "None of your business."

Tourmaline gave a nonchalant shrug. "Oh well. Very few of your visions become useful to you in the long run. This one is likely no different."

Unfortunately, Tourmaline was probably right. Before Ruby could snap at her again, however, she felt something moving. It was huge, and yet it was paradoxically subtle. She stopped in place, eyes darting about in confusion. What was going on? Where was it?

The entire world beneath her shifted slightly. However, the only outward sign of it was the capitol building giving a slight groan. She didn't even feel the floor physically moving beneath her feet. The shudder released a huge amount of energy, but it dissipated quickly into the enormous mass of the planet.

Ruby narrowed her eyes, torn between worry and confusion. "Was that a quake?"

"Hmm?" Tourmaline hummed, turning to face Ruby where she'd stopped. "Oh, quite possibly. We've been past due for another cycle. We really should have started a new one by now, but the council had some concerns about the 'conservation of planetary options'."

When Tourmaline continued walking, Ruby followed. She tried to remember if she'd heard anything about these "planetary options" while listening at the council chamber door. "You mean the empire's running out of planets?"

"Not exactly," was Tourmaline's response. "We usually have anywhere between five and ten candidates lined up ahead of us. That way, when we exhaust an old planet, we can choose the best candidate for our material needs." Her expression darkened slightly. "After we utilize Corundum, we will have four candidates left. Four cycles of reserve. This is the lowest we've had since the Fusion Wars, you know."

Ruby's most recent vision struck a chord of unease inside her. "When's the end of the cycle, then?" she asked.

"Oh, in about ten years," Tourmaline answered. "But don't worry. I'll have you on your next assignment by then." She flashed Ruby an amused, over-white smile. "I'll have you put on a team who can understand your…complex needs."

Ruby crossed her arms. "So I'm not going get stranded anywhere?"

Tourmaline's laugh echoed off the crystalline walls. "Oh, gracious, no! Didn't you hear me? I'll assign you to someone. They'll take care of your transportation. Don't you worry your pretty little head."

Ruby hated that Tourmaline was acting so goody-goody. It meant she was only trying to hide something. Ruby wasn't stupid. Even as political as Tourmaline was, she wasn't nearly as smart as she…thought…

Ruby's eyes went wide with the realization. Tourmaline wasn't going to assign her to anyone. Why would she? Ruby knew what had really happened to Rose and Zircon. She'd been part of the Corundum cluster and knew all about the Aquamarine templating that had taken place. There was also the fact that she'd literally been inside Tourmaline's mind and seen the extents the politician would go to if it meant strengthening her political grip on the empire. Ruby knew every little thing that Tourmaline so desperately wanted to keep hidden.

Why would Tourmaline let her go, then? The answer: she wouldn't. Using her authority over the assignment officials, she could manipulate the system from the inside and prevent Ruby from being assigned at all. Ruby would get stuck outside of the system. No one to go to, nowhere to run. She's be stranded until Homeworld itself collapsed around her.

And as for Sapphire… As for Sapphire, she'd be serving one of Tourmaline's fellow councilmembers. What better way for the politician to keep an eye on her?

"Now, we're going to have to go through a security check," Tourmaline spoke. She gave an amused chuckle. "Don't worry, you're authorized for this one. I just need you to follow me and-"

Ruby burst into a sprint before Tourmaline could finish her sentence. She literally blazed past the security checkpoint, ignoring the cries of protest from the guards and shouts of fury from the councilmember. She raced around corners and down straightaways, squeezing out every little burst of speed she could. If she was going to get stuck on this planet, she wasn't going to get stuck with Tourmaline.

When a vision tried to slip over her eyes, she ground her teeth and forced it back. She couldn't afford to slow down for even a moment. If she let Tourmaline catch her, she wouldn't just be giving up on herself. She'd be giving up on ever seeing Sapphire again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...gem politics. Yep. I don't have much to say about this chapter other than "Heliodor" and "Vermarine" being gemstone names that wished were used more often. In fact, Vermarine is my headcanon name for the Centipeedle's original form.
> 
> My goal is to finish the Garnet section of this story before the end of the year. We'll see how long that deadline holds up.


End file.
